Mobile Suite Gundam: Newtype Seed
by HubrisP
Summary: Kira and Krane were brought up by their Genetic Newtype Father: Rau Le Creuset, taking the names Kira Li Creuset and Krane Vi Creuset, Hikari Yamato and a Former ZAFT Ace grow a Bond that could endanger Hikari Yamato to the Wrath of the Dark King!
1. Phase 0: Sons of the Crucible

**Mobile Suite Gundam: Newtype Seed**

**Disclaimer – Neither Blaid nor DragonKnightRyu or anyone else involved in the making of this story Own anything in the Gundam television or comic franchise, for if we did, you would not be reading this story, you would be watching it on whatever T.V, station or Website you watch the Gundam series on. What we do claim ownership on however is the plot of the following story, any original Characters unless otherwise stated and any Original Mobile Suits and or Armours, if you do not like that, then go read something else.**

**Phase 0 – Sons of the Crucible**

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**7****th**** September, CE 60, 12:45pm; L4: Mendel Colony, GARM R&D: Main Lab **

A Sixteen Year Old Rau Le Creuset motioned for the ZAFT Soldiers to follow him further into the Base which his teammates shrugged before following the Blond Youth into the destroyed Labs, having arrived in the Lab area where countless Corpses lay on the ground seemingly crushed head areas seemed to be the only familiarity that they had with each other, Rau gasped and his Teammates watched him run over to two kids on the sofa with the older seemingly protecting the younger.

"Krane, Kira, are you okay?" questioned Rau as he knelt beside the youths and the oldest called Krane looked up and nodded as he pulled back to allow Rau to look at Kira.

"Dad, it would be best that we leave, otherwise the enemies will find us here in no position to defend ourselves" announced Krane causing the mouths of Rau's Teammates to drop, since when was a child at that age so knowledgeable in the ways of Military Tactics or know what war was for that matter.

"Your right, we better get out of here" announced Rau as he lifted Kira and took Krane's hand into his free one "come along"

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**6****th**** January, CE 69, 1:00pm; December City: Military Area, ZAFT Academy: Graduation Party **

"So…almost Ten Years into the Future and now your son is the one participating in this ceremony, I have to admit Le Creuset, your family is remarkable to all join ZAFT at a young age" commented Patrick Zala as he sat next to Rau whom stared up at Krane get his award "I have great hopes for your son"

"As do I, he is important to the continuation of my race, very important" announced Rau with a light smile as he took a sip of wine "do you think that the Earth Alliance will butt out of the PLANTs' business now, I personally think that with Blue Cosmos flittering around in their ranks we can't just be cautious, we need to be on our guard"

"I understand your worry, Commander Le Creuset, but we also can't predict what will happen in the future" announced Patrick as he stood from his chair "I'm needed back at HQ"

"I'll accompany you" announced Rau as he stood and motioned for Kira to wait behind for his brother.

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**1:30pm; December City: Military Area, ZAFT Academy: Balcony**

"It's nice to see you again, Than Veia" smiled Krane as he crossed over to the Newtype "I hear that you too are listed as one of the youngest student in the academy other than me being released into the world of the ZAFT Military today, I'm Krane Vi Creuset…"

"I know who you are, your majesty, your skills in the Academy took the Number One spot out of any to date" announced Than as he turned to Krane with a glow in his green eyes and light shining off his White Hair "but naturally, I would take second place in everything, it is a pleasure to meet and work with you in the betterment of ZAFT"

"And the Newtypes" answered Krane causing Than to take a gasp of air before smiling lightly.

"You have no idea how long my family have awaited those words" smiled Than as he followed Krane into the Academy proper.

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**14****th**** February, CE 70, 11:15pm; Laurasia-class frigate: **_**Gamow**_**, Bridge**

"It seems we have incoming enemy signals, looks like an Enemy attack Fleet, orders Commander?" asked Captain Zelman as he looked over his shoulder at Commander Le Creuset and his Pilots but more specifically the five pilots of his team: Andrew Waltfeld, Krane Vi Creuset, Than Veia, Naleen Lynn and Jacques Maddox.

"I want a complete analysis of the enemy Force before I send out anyone, let us not waste battery power on a false alarm gentlemen, I'd rather we are still able to battle without being blindsided in such a cruel way" smirked Rau and Krane shrugged.

"Permission to go to standby?" asked Krane and Rau chuckled lightly.

"Permission granted" dismissed Rau as he floated over to the Captain "send a message to Fleet command to tell them what we have found, tell them we are moving to intercept and request reinforcements, meanwhile I want' my GINN prepared to launch once we make contact!"

"Yes sir" nodded Zelman as Rau crossed over to the Commander Chair and settled down in it.

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**12:30pm; L5: PLANTs, Near Junius 7: Battlefield**

Krane growled as he dropped his Custom Mobile Suite Prototype: the Prototype GINN High Manoeuvre Type, into a steep drop which threw off the wing of three TS-MA2 Moebius Units before raising the Prototype GINN High Manoeuvre Type's wings onto its shoulder and destroying the three Moebius Units with concentrated fire from the High Mobility Wings' Duel Gatling Guns, Krane then shot off to survey the battlefield and smiled at the effectiveness of Newtype technology had on their forces, Than's own Prototype GINN High Manoeuvre Type was equipped with a Magnetic Wing System which unlike Krane's own High Mobility wings was completely defence related. The Magnetic Generators created a field of magnetic energy that confused missile targeting computers and deflected physical projectiles away from the unit proper, leaving Than to easily snipe at the enemy with his M69 "Barrus" heavy ion cannon which split enemy Ships into fiery wrecks, as though to prove his point the "Barrus" fired again and destroyed a Nelson-class Battleship which had been advancing on a PLANT Colony.

Meanwhile, Krane had to digest the layout of the battle with Rau and Andrew easily holding their own against a sea of Moebius Mobile Armours while Naleen watched their backs from within sniping range, Jacques was busy fighting against a number of Moebius Mobile Armours on his own however Krane sensed something off despite how well this battle was going, then he saw a Moebius Mobile Armour next to a TS-MA2mod.00 Moebius Zero Mobile Armour. The Moebius Zero was here to distract them from something, that thing being the weapons that the lead Moebius and those following him were carrying, Krane growled as he watched lines upon lines of Nuclear Missile equipped Moebius Mobile Armours approaching him at a swift speed.

"Rau, we have guests with Nuclear Weapons, get your butt over here!" snarled Krane over a transmission to Rau before charging at the Moebius units which he was intercepted by the Moebius Zero.

Krane had to feel annoyed at the technology that Al Da Flaga left behind for Newtypes of the Earth Alliance and their insane allegiance to the Blue Cosmos Faction, Krane dodged around the Wired Gunbarrels as he dodged the fire from each of their two Autocannons, quickly desiring to end this absurdity was why Krane slashed the wires on the Gunbarrels causing them to drop dead where they were which the Moebius Zero quickly retreated to save itself from the chance of death. Krane turned quickly at that point and set himself the task of destroying the surviving Nuclear Missiles before they could launch however down to the last Moebius which fired its missile, Krane acted quickly as he fired every bullet he had from his Duel Gatling Gun and his two MMI-M8A3 76mm heavy assault machine gun however he only managed to nick the Nuclear missile, sending it crashing into the bottom of Junius 7 killing roughly 121,850 people.

"Damn it" cursed Andrew Waltfeld as he launched an attack against a nearby Drake-class escort ship which constant fire to its Bridge area sent it crashing into the side of a Nelson-class Battleship which Andrew enjoyed for but a moment before moving onto a group of retreating Moebius units.

"I won't forgive you, NEVER!" snarled Than as he fired the M69 "Barrus" heavy ion cannon three times which destroyed a Nelson-class Battleship and its two Drake-class escort ship companions.

The battle went on for another hour as they battled back and forth while tailing after the fleeing-feinting Earth Alliance Fleet, finally Krane put an end to the battle by destroying the Agamemnon-class Carrier: Roosevelt, in doing so he destroyed the remaining Nuclear Missiles and forced the Earth Alliance Fleet or what remained of it into a retreat.

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**15****th**** February, 1:00pm; L5: PLANTs, Aprilius One: Government Building – Supreme Council Meeting Room**

"The fact that we lost so many people at Junius 7 is a hard loss, I myself lost my wife on Junius 7 which I am…still upset about, however I must put that aside and thank you for your efforts, Krane" announced Patrick Zala as he stepped forwards "therefore it would honour us if you accepted the Order of Nebula, I would also accept any Boon that you desire, though I doubt that it would be enough to repay you for your services"

"I desire a Command and a Ship, a ship that the Newtypes designed very recently at my request" announced Krane calmly and Patrick raised an eyebrow lightly as he understood the Technical and Combat Skills of the Newtypes "meanwhile, I would take Command of the new Destroyer: _Nazca_, until it is complete"

"Very well, may I see this design of yours?" questioned Patrick Zala and Krane handed him a data card which Zala slotted into his computer unit and looked over the data "very well, it seems acceptable, I will make sure that your friends in the Newtype Engineering Department get the resources they need to build this ship, you are dismissed"

Krane did a regal bow before turning and marching out of the room but smirked as he passed Than whom was next to receive his own Order of the Nebula followed by Andrew Waltfeld, Krane had already been informed by Rau yesterday that Kira was getting on well in the ZAFT Academy and the future military plans ZAFT were working towards, in fact it was assumed that Andrew Waltfeld would be sent to the surface to combat against the Earth Alliance once approach to the Earth was cleared.

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**20****th**** March, 6:00am; Nazca-class Destroyer: **_**Nazca**_**, Krane's Room**

Krane heard the alert that split through the ship and stood with an annoyed groan before looking at the time, it had been another day for the last month in which he had been awoken early in defending the International Space Station: Yggdrasil, the important point with the station is that it had within it had held research groups of both Coordinators and Newtypes however ZAFT had held the Earth Alliance Fleet at bay long enough for them to complete their research and pull out.

"What is it?" commanded Krane when he reached his desk and pressed the intercom.

"_Commander, the_ Kopachi _has just announced that it has finished evacuating the Scientists and is pulling away from the field of battle, what are your orders?" _questioned the _Nazca_'s Captain over a transmission, explaining that the Laurasia-class frigate: _Kopachi_, had completed its mission.

"Excellent, have all ships await until the enemy forces have Terrestrially invaded the Station and have gotten their fleet as close as possible to the Station, then permit all forces to open fire on Yggdrasil!" commanded Krane and he was answered with an affirmative before he cut the transmission.

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**17****th**** April, 1:00pm; Nazca-class Destroyer: **_**Nazca**_**, Bridge**

"We have received a report from our spies stating that an Earth Alliance Fleet is heading to attack the PLANTs, their projected route is along our present course which we should be able to head them off at the Resource Asteroid 'Jachin Due', it is at this strategic location that we will be able to defend our homeland" explained Krane calmly to the Commanders gathered.

"To that end" announced Rau as he cut in "we have brought three ZAFT Teams together here with Krane's new Dark Celestials Elite Force, here were are committed to stopping the Naturals from even getting near the PLANTs, we will stop at nothing to defeat the Naturals as they advance on our homeland!"

"It is best we move onto the plan at hand, thank you, Rau" smirked Krane as he taped a button causing a Tactical Hologram to appear "the Dark Celestials and the Le Creuset Team will hold Jachin Due to lure the enemy in, once they begin their attack in earnest they won't be caring about enemy forces coming around the side of the Asteroid, that is when the Heironimus Team and the Veia Team will come around from the sides of the Asteroid and Flank the enemy forces"

"If this plan is successful, we should be able to do maximum damage to the enemy Forces, forcing their retreat" commented Rau and all the Captains nodded in agreement.

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**1:30pm; Laurasia-class frigate: **_**Gamow**_**, Hanger**

"What are you thinking about, Kira?" asked Krane as he floated over to Kira whom stood before Krane's old Mobile Suite "you seem displeased with using my old unit"

"Are you sure that I am up to piloting such a unit, its designed for High Mobility, only those with the best reaction speed would be able to keep up with it let alone control it" muttered Kira and Krane smirked as he ruffled Kira's hair.

"You're a Newtype son of Rau Le Creuset and you're my brother, you can probably keep up with its reaction speed limitation, in fact I bet you can surpass the limitation so that the Mobile Suite is limiting you instead" commented Krane "just go out there and destroy some Naturals"

"Did I mention I saw Athrun at the Academy, more accurately, I saw Athrun entering the Academy as I was leaving" commented Kira as he leaned against a mental pole "I wonder if he's fighting to avenge his mother"

"Most likely, good luck Kira, we're going to need you if we are to push back the Earth Alliance Fleet" announced Krane before he floated off for the shuttle that would cross back over to the _Nazca_.

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**3:00pm; L5: Near PLANTs, Near the Resource Asteroid: Jachin Due – Battlefield **

Krane's plan seemingly worked better than previously predicted as Kira and Rau easily fought their way between the Earth Alliance's Fleet, they even managed to take out the Agamemnon-class that was acting as the Flagship of the enemy fleet, pleased that his plan was going as planned allowed Krane to enjoy the fun also as he sent his ZGMF-515AKC Prototype CGUE Assault into a steep dive and slashed through a Moebius Mobile Armour with a MA-M4A heavy sword before lifting his wings into the Prototype CGUE Assault's shoulder and raising its lower arms shields as he charged while firing the Wing's Duel Gatling Gun and the Shields' 28mm Vulcan system. Krane took out a Hundred Mobile Suites that day and still he couldn't help but feel disappointed by the boring attempts the Earth Alliance were making upon their forces, then again…the Earth Alliance were crippled without their Nuclear Power which Krane couldn't help but laugh at, so the Naturals were helpless without their toys which meant that beating on them was all the more sweeter.

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**28****th**** May, 1:00pm; 15th February, 1:00pm; L5: PLANTs, Aprilius One: Patrick Zala's mansion – Dining Room**

"I have to thank you for giving Kira and Rau the Order of the Nebula, they deserve it" commented Krane as he leaned against a Table nearby where Patrick was seated.

"Not at all, they deserved it, the same way you deserved your second from your commands at Yggdrasil and Jachin Due, Kira Li Creuset defeated countless enemies at Jachin Due while Rau destroyed thirty-seven Earth Alliance Mobile Armours and six Warships at Yggdrasil" answered Patrick calmly as he looked out the nearby window "what are your plans now that I have given you the Dark Celestials and their Base at Meteor City?"

"I am going to Endymion, there is information there that I can make use of for quite awhile, including the Earth Alliance Mobile Suite data" announced Krane with a dismissive wave as he crossed over to the doorway "don't worry, I don't fail"

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**1****st**** June, 8:00pm; Endymion Crater: Endymion Base, OMNI HQ: Information supercentre **

Krane sighed as the two soldiers behind him continued to bleed out from the wounds they had received to the head, he really had no care for them as he typed away at the computer looking for detailed information on OMNI Military Projects and found them, the Earth Alliance G1 and G2 Projects were seemingly two projects that designed around not just building their own Mobile Suites but those superior to the ones ZAFT had in Mass Production. The G1 Project was being led on the Colony of Heliopolis within the territory of the Orb Union, meanwhile the G2 Project was being held within Russia at the behest of Blue Cosmos Leader: Muruta Azrael, information from the G1 Project or G Project, since the G2 Project was classified, was being transferred to Russia at the behest of OMNI Technicians working in the Project as advisors.

Krane looked over the gathered information quickly as he placed a disk into a slot and began to transfer the information across quickly, he would take this directly to the Patrick Zala whom would immediately call for an attack upon Heliopolis however Krane had a better idea, he would have someone infiltrate the Colony and steal one of the Mobile Suites for ZAFT and then he thought up of Variant Plans. He would have to talk to Rau and Patrick about this plan and so he began to oversee the possible thoughts in his head and decided to look into the possibilities later once he was out of here, truthfully it had been wise of Krane in the long run to have staged the battle of Endymion as it caused the Earth Alliance to be greatly distracted when he made his escape from this dredge of a pit on the moon. With that in mind, Krane decided to head back to the Hanger in which his Mobile Suite was awaiting his arrival, it was time that he returned to the PLANTs and testified this information.

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**18****th**** November, 7:30pm; L7: PLANT-Type Colony "Meteor", Meteor Section: Government Building – Krane's Office**

"So, Patrick, you have confirmed that our Forces are marching towards victory?" questioned Krane as he leaned back in his chair.

"_Naturally, we can confirm at least that the Earth Alliance has no chance against us with our current power, though we have had losses or rather the loss of the Dragon of Endymion"_ explained Patrick on his side of the transmission from Aprilius One _"he was a growing Ace and he counted admirable number of kills at Endymion in the X, sadly that battle would claim his life, I hear Than is still choked up over that"_

"Rather, it's because he was almost killed at Endymion while the Dragon died in a further out position from him, he says it's suspicious and won't say anything else" shrugged Krane as bridged his fingers "regardless of our loss, the data that the ZGMF-X990 X's Mothership received was far worth the loss in the end, we will be able to put more Newtype designed weapons into production for the Dark Celestials now"

"_That is cold of you, Krane, Ryu Hisanaga was a potential Ace of ZAFT, his loss would have damaged our success in the later years of the war"_ complained Patrick on the screen and Krane gave him a cruel glare.

"He was a fool and a disrespectful idiot, he refused declarations for his skills and threw hospitality back in the face of the one whom gave it, Than hated his guts due to his lack of manners and the only thing that stopped Than from executing him was that he was an ally Newtype" growled Krane as he leaned forwards "if he wasn't so much of a failure, he would have survived Endymion, but he didn't, meaning that he is of little worth to the Newtypes in the Dark Celestials and that is a known fact between me and my men, that only the strongest make it"

"_Like I said: harsh, by the way…have you decided who is going to deal with the enemy G Project, you know I can't give the commands directly with all of the PLANT Supreme Council watching my ass and the moves it makes" _questioned Patrick over the transmission.

"Understandably, don't worry, the problem at Heliopolis has already been arranged for Termination" announced Krane calmly before he closed the closed the communication with Patrick and sat back, to ponder what would come of his new plan, it was best he prepared the _Varda_ for travel.

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**AN****: As you all can see this is a prologue to more chapters to come, only problem is while we would like to produce those chapters we need encouragement in the form of many, many, **_**many**_** reviews, so if you would like to see the next chapter, please review. After all, we are holding it hostage.**

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**Mobile Suites:**

**ZGMF-X1017MTC Prototype GINN High Manoeuvre Type - Krane Vi Creuset Custom**

**Model number:** ZGMF-X1017MKC  
**Code name:** Prototype GINN HM Krane Vi Creuset Custom  
**Unit type:** Prototype High Speed Combat Mobile Suit  
**Powerplant:** Ultracompact Energy Battery  
**Equipment and design features:**

Sensors, range unknown

2x High Mobility Vernier Wings  
**Fixed armaments:**

2x MMI-M8A3 76mm heavy assault rifle, extra clips stored on waist

1x MA-M3 heavy sword  
**High Mobility Wings armaments:** Dual Gatling Gun(Each), raises up to shoulder in use  
**Colours:** Black and Red  
**Known Pilot(s):** Krane Vi Creuset, Kira Li Creuset (After Krane receives the ZGMF-X515A Prototype CGUE Assault Custom)

**ZGMF-X1017MTV Prototype GINN High Manoeuvre Type - Than Veia Custom**

**Model number:** ZGMF-X1017MTV  
**Code name:** Prototype GINN HM Than Veia Custom  
**Unit type:** Prototype High Speed Combat Mobile Suit  
**Powerplant:** Ultracompact Energy Battery  
**Equipment and design features:**

Sensors, range unknown

Magnetic Shield Wings  
**Fixed armaments:**

1x M69 'Barrus' Heavy Ion Cannon

2x MA-M3 Heavy Sword  
**Colours:** Purple and Blue  
**Known Pilot(s):** Than Veia

**ZGMF-X515A Prototype CGUE Assault – Krane Vi Creuset Custom**

**Model number:** ZGMF-X515A  
**Code name:** Prototype CGUE Assault Krane Creuset Custom  
**Unit type:** Prototype Commander-Type Assault Mobile Suit  
**Powerplant:** Ultracompact Energy Battery  
**Equipment and design features:**

Sensors, range unknown

High Mobility Wings 2.0  
**Fixed armaments:** 2x MMI-M7S 76mm heavy assault rifle, extra clips stored on waist;

2x MA-M4A heavy sword;

2x M7070 Shield-plus-28mm Vulcan System  
**High Mobility Wings armaments:** Dual Gatling Gun(Each), raises up to shoulder in use  
**Colours:** Black and Purple

**Known Pilot(s):** Krane Vi Creuset

**ZGMF-X990 X**

**Mobile Suit Serial Number:** ZGMF-X990  
**Code Name:** X  
**Unit Type:** Prototype Assault Mobile Suit  
**Powerplant:** Ultracompact energy battery  
**Special Equipment:** Prototype DRAGOON System  
**Armament:**

2x "CIWS" 75mm anti-air Vulcan gun, mounted in head

1x Katana, mounted on waist; 1x JDP2-MMX22 experimental 27mm armor assault rifle, mounts MA-M3 heavy sword as bayonet

6x DRAGOON "Fangs" (Think of the ones that the Gundam throne Zwei uses in 00)  
**Appearance:** Appearance wise, it resembles The Throne Zwei but is less bulky and does not have the 'Heel' style feet, nor does it have the 'V' on its head.  
**Colors:** Primary Black with Red trim, the "Fangs" are blood red in colour.

**Pilot:** Ryu Hisanaga


	2. Phase 1: Gundams Rising

**Phase 1 – Rising Gundams**

**Disclaimer – Gundam Seed, or any of the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise is not owned by Blaid, DragonKnightRyu, or anyone else involved in the creation of this story, if you do not believe us you really need to get your eyes check as this is FAN-fiction.**

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**24****th**** January, CE 71, 9:00pm; L3: Heliopolis, Main Morgenroete Inc Facility: Office X1**

Kira couldn't help the glee came over him as he typed away at the computer before him and disengaged the locks on an external space hatch then led near to Morgenroete's Storage Hangers, they were preparing to sneak out the unnecessary 'Gundams' that way however that wouldn't be prepared until a few days after the Earth Alliance Mobile Suites were removed from the Factory onto the _Archangel_, Kira Li Creuset remembered how easy it had been to get as Professor Kato's Assistant on the G Project and how easy now it was to undermine their efforts. A beeping sound confirmed that the access tunnel had been used and soon the factory near this office block would be having a visitor, to that end Kira hacked into the Factory's security system and deactivated automatically, minutes went by before Kira sensed a presence and saw Than Veia the Dark King leaning off the doorframe in his pilot suite equipped to a jetpack with folded wings.

"Did getting here cause you any problems?" asked Kira calmly as he turned to face the deadly Dark Celestial Ace.

"Naturally, young Prince, the _Nazca_ and _Cuzco_ are waiting opposite to the Le Creuset Team's approach vector" dismissed Than as he calmly walked over to Kira "I say that you're a fool for underestimating me"

"Whatever, I need to be sure" grunted Kira as he turned back and started typing on the Keyboard again "are you sure it's wise to bring one of the Cuzco-class Heavy Destroyers here?"

"The Cuzco-class may seem a heavily armoured tortoise, however it can match the speed of the _Gamow_, don't worry, Krane has left nothing to chance in his Tactical Forecasting" answered Than calmly "everything should go as planned unless we face some unexpected elements"

"Let's not jinx us, please Dark King, this isn't something we can be allowed to fail" groaned Kira as he finished his last code "it has been taking me months to undo the near successful Natural O.S. that Morgenroete has been working on and I'm surprised that in their backtracking those working on the project didn't notice that I have been hacking into the O.S. and altering it towards easy access to make a Coordinator O.S."

"I see, is there anything else to report young prince?" asked Than.

"Only that I occasionally felt a presence in the back of my head" explained Kira after thinking for a minute "typically around the Morgenroete facilities, so you may want to be cautious around there"

"You are underestimating me again, young prince" chided Than "I can deal with some untrained worker"

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**9:30pm; L3: Heliopolis: Residential Area, Apartment Build: Room 301**

A brown haired man wearing a Morgenroete tech uniform standing at 5'12" sighed as he walked into his apartment tossing his keys onto the counter and yawn. His green eyes flicked around the apartment curiously and settled on the phone as he sighed again, picking up the phone he dialled a number and waited as the other line rang

"Hey sir, it's Ryu" said Ryu once the other line picked up "yes Sir I'm doing well, did you daughter get the gift I sent? Good glad she'll be able to make use of it...nah, it was no trouble getting it...now that you mention it Sir, I have seen some strangers hanging around lately...no, no trouble yet...I see...I'll let you know if I hear anything about Sir, goodnight"

Sighing Ryu set the phone down and rolled his neck, Ryu groaned as he moved to the fridge and muttered under his breath "I hope this is worth it"

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**25th January, CE 71, 10:30am; L3: Heliopolis, Residential Area: Park**

An attractive young women with mid back length brown hair typed rapidly away on a laptop as her amethyst eyes followed her progress, pausing she looked up and smiled at the sight of the green-yellow robotic bird that was currently flying around the park. Turning back to her laptop she was about to start to work again before a shout of "Hikari!" caught her attention, looking up she smiled at the sight of her friends Tolle Koenig and Miriallia Haw approaching her waving.

"Hey Tolle, Mir!" greeted Hikari with a smile as they came up to her.

"Hey Hikari, Professor Kato asked us to get you for him" said Tolle as they entered the small covered picnic area she was working in "he has more work for you"

"Yeah, too much!" groaned Hikari incredulously "but I'm not finished the stuff he dropped on me yesterday!"

"Apparently a project he's working on is close to finishing and he needs your help with another one he's working on" commented Miriallia and Hikari groaned as she leant back against the railing, meanwhile the news on the Computer Screen caught Tolle's attention.

"Is something happening?" asked Tolle curiously.

"Yeah, in Kaohsiung apparently" nodded Hikari with a frown as she the news screen showing a reporter with GINNs in the background firing at the unseen enemy.

"If this is from last week, then Kaohsiung has probably fallen by now" commented Tolle whom was also frowning.

"That isn't far from the homeland" commented Miriallia as he pointed out this point "will the Homeland be alright?"

"We'll be fine, yeah their close by but Orb is neutral, so they won't be attacked" assured Tolle as Hikari stared off into the distance a heavy feeling developing in her gut.

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**10:46am; L3: Heliopolis Space Port, Marseille-III Class Transport: Bridge**

The captain sighed contently as he lent back in his chair taking off his hat and allowing it to float.

"Well it seems this old girl has finally completed her last mission, you served admirably as an escort, Lieutenant La Flaga and for that I'm grateful" thanked the Captain as he looked over at blond haired blue eyed pilot.

"Sir, I'm just lucky nothing happen en route" commented Mu La Flaga "any ZAFT ships nearby?"

"We are tracking a couple of ZAFT ships" informed the captain informed "but their nothing to worry about, now that we have docked in neutral territory they won't try anything"

"Because this is a Neutral Colony? Ha, what a joke that is" countered Mu as he protested against a lack of caution "obviously you have never dealt with the Dark Celestials, they never really cared for neutrality laws or laws of any kind"

"All the same, it's thanks to Orb that your plans have accelerated so far, I'm thankful that the Earth has considered them their own nation" added the Captain with a hum as a group of pilots entered the bridge, counting them all they added up to Six people, a person each for the Six Prototype Mobile Suites developed for the Earth Alliance.

"We're heading over to Morgenroete now Captain" said one of the G-Pilots with a salute which the Captain returned "we want to get familiarized with our units as soon as possible"

The captain nodded and watched them leave the bridge before turning back to Mu and asking "How will do you think they'll do?"

"Poorly" said Mu bluntly followed by a groan "their struggling to move the Mobile Suites even in simulators, they'd be shot down quicker than a rookie in a Moebius"

"Unfortunately they are our only hope right now of winning this war" commented the Captain with a sigh as he looked out the window of the bridge, more accurately, he was looking in the direction that he thought the hidden ZAFT Ships lay waiting.

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**10:47am; Nazca-class Destroyer: **_**Vesalius**_**, Bridge**

"Don't look so upset, Ades" commented Rau Le Creuset as he floated up from the Viewpoint where he had been watching the Strike Team Shuttles heading towards the mining area.

"Are you sure about this course of action, I'm sure that it won't be too late to hear back from the Council" commented Captain Fredrick Ades as he looked over his shoulder at Rau.

"It will be too late, I have a Sixth Sense about these things, but if we don't stop them from moving those suites now…later we'll regret it with our lives" announced Rau calmly as he sat down in the Commander's Chair while letting a picture of the G-Weapon Mobile Suites "also, since our last resupply, I assume that Kira's Quarters have been prepared for his arrival"  
"Of course, but wouldn't it make more sense for the Dark Celestials to pick him up instead, since they have been spying on Heliopolis for days and it was the Supreme Commander whom authorized our actions here?" questioned Fredrick Ades and Rau shook his head simply.

"There was a report stating that he would be brining something of importance back, regardless, the Dark Celestials Task Force nearby have been sent to secure something that Kira reported during his stay there" announced Rau calmly as he looked out of the viewpoint towards Heliopolis.

* * *

**10:50am; L3: Heliopolis, Residential Area: Transportation Station**

"It's nothing like that!" shouted a red headed blue eyed girl wearing a light pink dress as Hikari and her friends approached the waiting Terminal for the Transportation Station, one of the girls pestering them soon spotted the group.

"Mir you wouldn't believe what Flay just received!" announced the Girl before she squealed "a love letter from Sai!"

"I told you it's nothing like that!" denied Flay while in the background Hikari sighed.

"Jealous Hikari?" asked the other girl teasingly as Hikari rolled her eyes.

"Not particularly" said Hikari dully her thoughts drifting off before a cough interrupted them, turning they saw a purple haired strict looking women and two men behind her waiting impatiently.

"If you are not getting on may we go ahead of you?" asked the Woman in a manner more similar to an order than anything.

"Oh, we're sorry" answered Tolle before the group parted for them before one of Flay's friends turned to Hikari.

"Who do you like Hikari?" asked the Girl demandingly "is he cute?"  
"I…I don't know who he is exactly he is but yeah" admitted Hikari with a blush.

"You have a crush on someone?" asked Flay thankful for the diversion from her friends' questioning "where is he?"

Hikari stammered a bit at all of the attention focused on her, she wasn't use to a sudden influx of attention since she was far from the most popular girl in school, actually it was Flay Allster before her that was said to take that highest position.

"He's a tech worker for Morgenroete" explained Hikari "he came in once to repair something in the classroom"

"Good luck with that!" said one of the Girls near Miriallia as they ran for a vehicle while Hikari, Tolle and Mir ran for the second and headed to the University.

* * *

**10:50am; L3: Heliopolis, Morgenroete Factory, Warehouse Four**

Ryu frowned as he knelt next to a wiring panel sneaking looks around the warehouse as he worked on it, everything was being packed and loaded into transports hurriedly, especially since the update of Dark Celestial Forces nearby and from what his superior had told him was something to do with an exercise, the Dark Celestials and the term Military Exercise near a Neutral Colony did not mix due to their brutal training regime.

_'One would think they would warn the station master about what was going to be happening'_ thought Ryu to himself slightly angry.

"Hey Tech!" shouted someone getting his attention causing him to turn to see a buxom brunette coming towards him "can you help me something over here?"

"Yes ma'am!" confirmed Ryu as he set about replacing the panel and following the brunette to one of the containers "what seems to be the problem?"

"This mobile suit we're working on is malfunctioning slightly, can you look at it?" asked the brunet as Ryu nodded and easily climbed up the ladder and looked down at the mobile suit, while he had seen a couple of times before and they all looked impressive he couldn't help but really appreciate this one in particular as it seem to call out to him, moving over to the tech near the cockpit he shook off the odd feeling and focused on the work at hand.

* * *

**10:53am; L3: Heliopolis, Main Morgenroete Inc Facility: Office X1**

"Everything is in place Than" reported Kira to the silver haired man, whom smirked at the Brunet.

"Thank you, young prince" responded Than with a entertained smirk as he pressed a button on his Pilot Suite collar "I'll let Commander Le Creuset know immediately"

* * *

**10:55am; L3: Heliopolis, Morgenroete Technical University: Professor Kato's Classroom**

Hikari giggled slightly as she watched Tolle struggle to right himself in the powered frame they were helping Professor Kato construct. Next to her the son of Siegel Clyne Anzahl Clyne, a red haired blue eyed teen rolled his eyes as he continued to type away on his laptop.

"Man, how does Mir stay sane with him?" asked Anzahl raising an eyebrow.

"The doctor says I can stop taking the pills in a week" announced Mir as she chipped in to a round of Laughter.

* * *

**10:57am; L3: Heliopolis, Morgenroete Construction Docks: Air vents**

Several ZAFT soldiers moved quickly though the air vents making sure to make as little noise as possible leaving High explosive behind them as they went.

* * *

**Meanwhile; Nazca-class Destroyer: **_**Vesalius**_**, Bridge**

"It's time" announced Rau calmly as he made a motion with his hand after looking at his watch.

"Weigh Anchor, _Vesalius_ Launch!" commanded Frederick Ades and the _Vesalius_ ratted as its engines activated and got them moving.

* * *

**11:00am; L3: Heliopolis, Main Morgenroete Inc Facility: Office X1**

"It's begun" said Than as he smirked and moved to the door with Kira and several soldiers behind him.

* * *

**11:05am; L3: Heliopolis, Morgenroete Factory: Warehouse Four**

"Bloody Shit!" cursed Ryu as he grabbed the fallen gun of one of the EA soldiers station on the warehouse and opened up on the approaching ZAFT Soldiers "why the fuck now!"

Ducking behind a container he peaked around and saw several ZAFT greens enter alongside some Reds, naturally he wasn't surprised when he saw a Brunet however he was surprised which of the Ace Siblings were here to steal the Earth Alliance Prototype Mobile Suites, more accurately was the fact that it was actually Kira Li Creuset unlike his brother.

"How did they get in!" asked the Lieutenant in charge, the buxom brunette asking for him help from before.

"You really don't know anything about the Dark Celestials do you?" asked Ryu as he scanned the walkways "they must have gotten wind of your little project"

"How do you know it's them?" asked another EA worker reloading.

Ryu sighed and peaked around the corner before answering "Let's just say it's a gut feeling"

He suddenly blurred into movement as he moved out from cover firing at the approaching soldiers and grabbed one of the grenades of the dead soldiers throwing it before ducking behind another container, if Kira Ci Creuset was here then either Rau Le Creuset or Krane Vi Creuset was not far behind, personally it was Rau whom Ryu preferred to be enemies with at this point.

* * *

**11:07am; L3: Heliopolis Space Port, Marseille-III Class Transport: Bridge**

"Enemy Ships incoming!" announced the Captain as Mu entered into the Bridge as the ship began to move out from the Hanger "two Normal ZAFT craft: Nazca-class and Laurasia-class, two black Variants coming in from the West, are they…!"

"The Dark Celestials? Oh yeah, that colour scheme is definitely in their handbook, I'll prepare to head out" announced Mu as he crossed over to the Bridge entrance again "have Gail and Luke get into their Mobile Armours but don't have them launch yet!"

* * *

**11:08am; Cuzco-class Heavy Destroyer: **_**Cuzco**_**, Bridge**

"Lord Kale Boonar, the enemy forces are on the move and the Le Creuset Team are advancing, should we not launch our own forces to send to Lord Than's aid?" questioned Captain Repos whom was Captain of the _Cuzco_.

"Aim the Long-range Cannons at Heliopolis' Hanger, then open fire, sadly we cannot launch to help our Lord Than…ah since he's fighting there is very little for us to do" chuckled Kale Boonar as he sat out from the Commander's Chair "destroy them all, Captain"

* * *

**11:10am; L3: Heliopolis, Morgenroete: Hangers Area, Storage Hanger X**

Than Veia smirked as he dropped down from the balcony over the Mobile Suites that were being held nearby, the Mobile Suite he had his eyes on was the one that had jumped out at him when Kira was leading the list of them and their capabilities, the GAT-X104 Striker Gundam as Kira had called it was a dashing machine which had a perfect balance of light and heavy armament and it was the prototype predecessor to the GAT-X105 Strike which had been trimmed down for energy purposes, the Striker however had countless energy Condensers that would be the main counter against large energy losses.

"Going somewhere?" questioned a voice and Than froze, seeping his annoyance into the air itself, nothing like a Clyne traitor to boil his blood.

"And what are you doing here, Anzahl, having a walk through Neutral Territory are we?" questioned Than as he looked back at the Crimson haired youth "or are you here under the will of that Clyne Faction, that pathetic Organization called Terminal, regardless you are in my way and with what remains of my patience I ask you to move before I cut you to slivers!"

"That is not going to happen" countered Anzahl Clyne as he aimed his pistol at Than however Than was faster.

It was in a blink of an eye that Than spun around and took aim with his own Pistol before he launched multiple bullets into the side of a Petrol Canister which sparked before releasing an explosion which caused Anzahl to drop to the floor, with a large leap the 'Dark king' jumped up onto the top of the Striker Gundam and then into the Cockpit where the hatch soon sealed behind him, with a groan Anzahl got up and headed over to the other Mobile Suite in the hanger: the GAT-X302 Devastator. Anzahl quickly began to type away at the O.S. as he noticed the GAT-X104 Striker Gundam turn towards the rear of the Hanger and launch a beam of crimson energy from its Beam Magnum, Anzahl stood the Devastator Gundam up and looked after the Striker which had launched itself down a metal tunnel, with an annoyed growl the son of the PLANT Supreme Council's Chairman turned the Devastator to leave the burning hanger rather than risk investigating what Than was up to especially now that the 'Dark King' was within a Mobile Suite again.

* * *

**11:30am; L3: Heliopolis, Residential Area: Battlefield**

Hikari Yamato was really having difficulty understanding the chain of events that had held up to this point in time including the run in with her long time friend Athrun Zala, more accurately was the fact that she couldn't comprehend getting in this Mobile Suite of her own initiative nor the full reason in why she actually was piloting it now other than to save her friends however pilot it she did as she finished the minor changes to the O.S. that was heavily beyond anyone's capabilities to use, before she straightened the Mobile Suite to face off against the GINN in front of her which was prepared for the Strike's next attack. Using he momentum she launched the Strike into the air and drew the two "Armour Schneider" combat knifes before stabbing them into the GINN's arm joints causing them to go slack, she had a brief feeling that something was wrong when the pilot of the GINN ejected from the cockpit and sped away as quickly as possible, her suspicions were answered less than a minute later when the GINN glowed lightly before exploding outwards in a blinding explosion.

"GAT-X105 Strike, come in" announced a voice that sent a shudder up her spine as she answered the communication which a familiar brown haired and green eyed youth appeared on the screen "come in Murrue Ramius, are you okay? This is Ryu Hisanaga whom had temporarily taken the GAT-X000 Dragon Gundam"

"Ryu, Miss Murrue is unconscious, I don't know that to do" announced Hikari and Ryu nodded once as he considered this.

"Let us regroup in the Park Area, I believe that is where you're friends are hiding out at now that Heliopolis' Shelters are close to locking down, hopefully we can use my ally to create a defence network between our three Mobile Suites so long as the Stolen new units don't join in" announced Ryu as he headed over to that location with the Strike not far behind.

* * *

**Meanwhile; Nazca-class Destroyer: **_**Vesalius**_**, Hanger**

"What a surprise, Kira, for you to bring back yet another enemy unit that we had no information about" smirked Rau as he watched Kira step out of the stolen Prototype Mobile Suite and hand a data card to him "what is this?"

"It's the data and schematics for the GAT-X104, GAT-X106 and GAT-X302 which I was able to hack my way through during my undercover mission, they were the Prototypes that were given to the Orb Union as compensation for their aid in the G-Project" announced Kira before noticing that Rau was in a pilot suite "going somewhere?"

"Yes actually, I sent Naleen over to the _Gamow_ to oversee the data extraction on the G-Weapons and because of that she will be not here when Jacques sorties with me, you are welcome to join us on our La Flaga hunt" commented Rau as he looked at the recharge information for the GAT-X106 Aviator "your unit has used up very little energy getting back and should be ready to sortie in five minutes"

"I would be glad to accompany you, dad, Mu La Flaga has gotten in our way enough I'd venture" smirked Kira as he began typing up the O.S. inside his machine "I'll just perfect my O.S. and we'll be ready to go"

* * *

**11:45am; L3: Heliopolis, Residential Area: Park**

"All of you, line up over there!" commanded Murrue as she pointed her pistol at each of those gathered "your names, one at a time, please"

"My name Sai Argyle" announced Sai as he stood calmly.

"I'm Kuzzey Buskirk" answered Kuzzey with a fearful look in his face.

"Miriallia Haw" spoke Mir as she stood close to Tolle's side.

"I'm Tolle Koenig" announced Tolle as he cautiously watched the woman pointing the gun at them.

"Hikari Yamato" announced Hikari defiantly while glaring down the gunbarrel.

"And I am Lieutenant Murrue Ramius, an Earth Alliance Officer, fortunately I already knew your names: Ryu Hisanaga and Anzahl Clyne, the two of you have given up Family and Nation to serve a noble cause like stopping the war from escalating as far as possible by joining the peaceful organization: Terminal" announced Murrue as she nodded to both Ryu and Anzahl before she turned her gaze back to the civilians "however, I am the unfortunate bearer of bad news to state that these Civilians are now under my custody, I'm sorry but I cannot allow any of you to leave"

"What!" gasped a number of the youths causing Anzahl to wince slightly as he predicted this result.

"You have all been exposed to a top military secret and until I can reach the proper authorities and they can determine what to do with all of you, I cannot allow you to leave my sight, do you understand?" questioned Murrue calmly as she indicated at the civilians with her pistol.

"In case you've noticed, we're from a neutral nation, you're war has nothing to do with us" complained Sai as he clenched his fists and looked at the ground.

"Yeah, we're citizens of Orb, you can't boss us around!" shouted Tolle definitely as he glared at Murrue, Hikari looked at Tolle and winced when she hear three bullets echo throughout the background, turning around at a speed that would cause self-injury to a Natural to see Murrue drop her Gun from its raised position and point it back at the group again.

"Just because you're not directly a part of the war, does that mean that you can allow yourself to get detached from what is really happened, to ignore the war happening all around you?" questioned Murrue annoyed "regardless, the Earth Alliance's greatest secret was here and all of you have seen it!"

"A little harsh, don't you think?" asked Sai and Murrue calmed down with a sigh.

"It may be harsh, but it's the truth, it's as simple as that" announced Murrue calmly as she turned to look at Ryu and noticed Anzahl missing "I would like to talk to you on what you and your partner are doing here, also I want to know where he has snuck off to now"

"He went to Morgenroete to get one of the Strike's Striker Packs" announced Ryu as he stepped up to Murrue "meanwhile, Anzahl and I are here to make sure that ZAFT didn't pull anything and sadly it seems we failed, it would be in the best interest of our mission to aid you now"

"Alright, since I was in charge of the G-Project I had to look into the identity of all those working near the project, I look forward to your aid" nodded Murrue as she watched the group of Civilians bicker among themselves "Hikari, get back in the Strike and try and get a transmission off to Earth Alliance Forces in the area, let's see if we can get out of here as soon as possible" announced Murrue calmly.

* * *

**12:30pm; Archangel-class Assault Ship: **_**Archangel**_**, Hanger**

Murrue sighed in relief as she stepped off the hand of the Strike as it lowered it to the floor of the hanger, looking up she saw the Dragon and Devastator land as well closely followed by the Moebius Zero from before.  
"Lieutenant!" shouted Natarle as she and the remaining crew members moved over to where her and the civilians had landed "are you alright?"

"Yes somehow" confirmed Murrue "mostly thanks to the pilots however"

The cockpits opened as Murrue was talking to Natarle and the three pilots stepped out and descended to the ground surprising many of the soldier with their age.

"They're so young" breathed one of the crewmen as they set down.

Hikari and Anzahl were immediately beset by their friends as soon as they landed while Ryu merely leaned against the foot of his mobile suit sighing as he rubbed his eyes.

"Ryu!" shouted Murrue getting the brunette's attention "can we talk to you?"

"Coming!" replied Ryu as he pushed himself off of his suit and moved over to the gathered group of the surviving officers along with Mu La Flaga.

"This was the one who was piloting the GAT-X000 Dragon" introduced Murrue gesturing to him "Ryu Hisanaga"

"The Dragon of Endymion?" asked Mu his voice quiet and his eyes wide at the familiar name "but you were killed when the Cyclops went off"

"Not quite" replied Ryu with a sigh "it's a long story so here is the short version, I wanted to leave ZAFT leaving as small a trail as possible so I took advantage of the Cyclops blast to fake my death and joined Terminal, I didn't feel any personal dislike to ZAFT but rather my immediate superior had goals that contradicted ZAFTs and I couldn't understand why he would chose such a path, so I chose to leave and search out my own path and joined up with Terminal."

"A mercenary company?" questioned Natarle a disbelieving look on her face "hardly a good choice of morals there"

"Where is the Captain at?" smiled Ryu patiently as he turned to Murrue and started asking vital questions "because we need to make a decision on our next move or the Dark Celestials will"

"The Captain and all the Commanding officers were close to the ship when the bombs went off, at this point Lieutenant Ramius is currently the Captain, as she is the highest ranked official" informed Natarle solemnly.

"The Captain is dead?" questioned Murrue in shock "that's..."

"Man what a non-medicated disaster" groaned Mu as he rubbed his forehead "anyways can you please grant me permission to board, the ship I was assigned to was downed by the enemy"

"Ah, s-sure, welcome aboard" replied Murrue still startled by the fact that she was in charge.

"And what about them?" asked Mu glancing over at the civilians.

"The one piloting the Strike was in the factory for some reason and the one piloting the Devastator is with Ryu" explained Murrue "thanks to that young women that we were able to hold onto the Strike"

"And the pilots that I escorted here, are they?" asked Mu.

"Because they were being greeted by the Captain in the Command Room they were caught in the explosion, and they..." informed Natarle.

"I see..." sighed Mu as he looked again at Hikari and moved over to her causing the teen to tense.

"What is it?" asked Hikari nervously as Mu studied her carefully.

"Are you a coordinator?" asked Mu straight out causing several gasps of surprise and the security guards raised their rifles in suspicion.

"I am" confirmed Hikari defiantly as her friends stood between her and the soldiers while Ryu subtly pulled out his pistol.

"What the heck is this?" shouted Tolle "even though Hikari is a coordinator she isn't the enemy! Didn't you see what she did out there, if it wasn't for her those guys would have killed us all!"

"Tolle" whispered Hikari touched by her friends defence of her against the Coordinator's main enemies.

"Enough lower your weapons!" ordered Murrue sternly as the Security Officers reluctantly did so.

"Lieutenant Ramius what is the meaning of this?" questioned Natarle as she stepped up to Murrue's side.

"There isn't much to be surprised about is there?" asked Murrue "after all we are in a neutral colony so it wouldn't be surprising that Coordinators moved here to escape the war, am I wrong Hikari"

"Ah, y-yes, especially since I am a first-generation Coordinator" responded Hikari.

"So that means your parents would be Naturals correct?" asked Mu before he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck "well sorry for causing such a fuss, I just wanted to be sure, on my way here I saw the actual pilot run simulations on the G-Units, they were struggling to do even the most basic of movements, oh well..."

"Lieutenant where are you going?" asked Natarle as Mu started to move away with a sigh.

"Where? I landed here because my unit was shot down" informed Mu as he indicated to the disabled Moebius Zero "the Le Creuset forces and the Dark Celestials are right outside, their a vicious bunch and will not be waiting for us to make a move before they attack us, they are pretty annoying"

"Annoying, that's one way of putting it" chuckled Ryu "we best get our units back in and resupplied if we are going to survive the next wave"

* * *

**2:00pm; Archangel-class Assault Ship: **_**Archangel**_**, Hallway**

Murrue sighed to herself as she stood in the hallway outside the room that the Heliopolis civilians were in, standing in front of her was a defiant Hikari as the rest of the civilians watched on Ryu and Anzahl were leaning against the wall across from the room.

"I don't want to fight" protested Hikari "please don't involve us in this war anymore"

"Hikari" began Murrue only to be interrupted by Hikari.

"What you said outside about the outside world being at war may have been true" admitted Hikari "but we hate that! We hate fighting! That why we chose to live in a neutral nation, and yet..."

"Perhaps I should talk to her" said Ryu pushing himself off of the wall and gestured for Hikari to follow him.

"I can completely understand why you don't wish to fight Hikari" assured Ryu "but there is one thing you are not considering, the Dark Celestials are ruthless, to them neutrality, civilian, age, nothing matters to them so long as they complete their objective, they will not hesitate to kill your friends or even destroy this colony"

"But..." protested Hikari weakly ducking her head "I'm just a civilian what skill do I have as a soldier?"

"I looked over the battle record on the Strike" stated Ryu "and the fact you managed to completely rewrite the OS system as jumbled as it was is amazing, the fact you did it under fire and forced the enemy to retreat is another thing completely"

"I was just trying to protect my friends" dismissed Hikari nervously while ducking her head lower to hide her blush from hearing praise coming from her crush.

"And that is a noble goal" assured Ryu "and we need your help to protect your friends and the colony"

However before Hikari could respond they both felt the ship shake violently with Hikari tripping and falling right into Ryu who stabilized them both.

"Don't tell me they are..." whispered Ryu whispered oblivious to the massive blush on Hikari as he started to head in the direction of the Archangel's Bridge "c'mon!"

"Lieutenant!" shouted Ryu as they entered the bridge "are they doing what I pray they are not?"

Hikari gasped when she entered the bridge and saw the gigantic holes in the colony, bigger than the one her Agni had made.

"Why are they bombarding?" asked Murrue as she braced herself against the explosion that rocked the ship again "don't they care about the colony"

"No" Ryu stated bluntly as he sat down in the co-pilot's seat "this is the Dark Celestials we are talking about, the colony is in their way so they are removing it and us at the same time, but this also may help us as well..."

"Help us?" asked Natarle disbelievingly "how do you mean?"

"The exit holes of the blasts," pointed out Ryu "we can use the ones on the opposite side the blasts are coming from and escape into the nearby debris field to plan our next move, if we are lucky they'll think the ship was destroyed in the explosion, not likely however"

"Neumann!" shouted Murrue as she turned to Arnold Neumann at the Helm "plot a course to the hole nearest to the debris field!"

"What about the colony?" asked Hikari desperately.

"They'll stop before the colony will fall apart" explained Ryu "keeping it intact will make their search for us easier, and the escape pods would have been jettisoned the minute they stared bombarding us!"

"Should we launch the mobile suites?" asked Natarle as she looked back at Murrue "they might have mobile suites patrolling the area"

"I'll stand by with Anzahl" offered Ryu before turning to Hikari "what about you?"

"I... I'll pilot the Strike" she decided "but only until I can get my friends out of here"

Ryu nodded and gestured for her to follow him as they made their way to the Hanger.

"Just some advice be sure to lead your shots" advised Ryu as they entered the change room "also be sure to keep calm during a fight, if you feel yourself starting to panic put some distance between you and take a quick breather"

"T-thanks..." said Hikari before blushing when Ryu tore off his shirt and pants and grabbed a dark green black trimmed pilot suit and pulled it on.

"Ah, sorry" he apologized sheepishly upon noticing that he was changing in front of a lady when he glanced over to see her blushing "I forgot that you're not used to changing with guys, sorry"

Ryu grabbed a helmet and quickly left the change room to hide his own embarrassment.

* * *

**6:30pm; Nazca-class Destroyer: **_**Vesalius**_**, Bridge**

With the appearance of the Archangel and the defeat of Rau Le Creuset by the Strike Gundam had caused nothing but problems for ZAFT and now the Le Creuset Team prepared to launch another attack on Heliopolis, the Dark Celestials had taken it upon themselves to bombard the Colony from long range as was their ideals when it came to an heavily armoured installation and as though to follow up on that the Rau had called for an attack with Heavy Artillery just an hour ago where they found the Colony empty of their target.

"Then enemy may have fled outside of the Colony however I severely doubt that they have made for open space, there is a debris field near Heliopolis that I believe that they have taken shelter in rather than take a direct route to the Earth Alliance Territory, the amount of damage to that Colony also means that the Shelters have been ejected from the Colony and their distress beacons are disrupting our long range scans" announced Rau calmly as he looked out of the viewpoint "I don't think that they will make their move yet, therefore we are going to change our plans to accommodate for the changes to the enemy's tactics"

"Within the next hour the Laurasia-class Frigate: _Florien_, will be arriving at our current position by command of Krane Vi Creuset to overlook our resupply and to take Miguel Aiman, Olor Koudenberg and Matthew back to Boaz" announced Frederick Ades however before he could finish Miguel cut in.

"Wait a minute, I want another crack at that enemy Mobile Suite!" snarled Miguel and Rau glared at the 'Magic Bullet of Dusk'.

"We cannot waste resources such as valuable pilots on the enemy, you are to be sent back to Boaz on leave until the Homelands can produce a Mobile Suite that uses similar technology to the enemy, do you understand?" questioned Kira as he turned to look at the Ace "you are too valuable to lose, Miguel Aiman, once you have a worthy Mobile Suite you can once again live up to the name of being the 'Magic Bullet of Dusk'!"

"Alright, but you owe me one for this" nodded Miguel with a growl as he headed off towards the Bridge entrance.

* * *

**Meanwhile; Former Orb Union Mobile Factory Asteroid: "Helios One", Ship Hanger/Factory Section A: Main Factory**

Than Veia looked about the gathered people that his Men had forcefully arrested for treason against the Newtype World that their blessed Royal Lord Krane was trying to make, presently the people before him were Scientists and Technicians that had chosen the Neutrality of Orb over their own Newtype bloodline and that had burned betrayal once again into Than's gut, the only reason he didn't kill them in the first place was due to the Vehicle that they had built within the centre of the Hanger. Kira Li Creuset had explained to Than the power and effectiveness of the Archangel, to destroy the Archangel they would need a much greater ship and fortunately the Orb Union coupled with the traitorous Newtypes in their care had created a new class of Battleship that would support, one day being upgraded to the point in which it replaced the Izumo-class Battleship used every day in the Orb Union's Space Fleet and now that would never happen, the Rewloola-class Battleship's Cornerstone: the _Rewloola_ was being customized for Than right before his eyes.

"My Lord, we have used the Factory's Verniers to move it away from Heliopolis, we contacted our allies and they have taken up defensive positions around the Factory" announced the Dark Celestial Commander as he crossed over to Than.

"Excellent, anything else?" asked Than and the Captain paled.

"Lord Krane is on route to this location" replied the Dark Celestial Commander and Than felt like he was on the ceiling, such were the effect of those words on him, his beloved was coming to witness Than's success, some would kill for the honour.

"Then go, prepare for his arrival!" commanded Than as he looked down at the _Rewloola_ with a smile "hopefully we'll be nearly done by the time he arrives!"

* * *

**Author's Note - Ahh, another chapter written and posted, although we are disappointed and our feelings are hurt from the lack of reviews, so all yo need to do is push the little button at the bottom of the page and leave a few words of encouragement, If you do not we will consume your soul.**


	3. Phase 2: Artemis

**Phase 2 – Artemis **

**Disclaimer – Blaid, DragonKnightRyu, or anyone else would like everyone to know that the only thing in the Mobile Suit Franchise that we own are possible collectibles, DVD releases, VHS releases(Yes they still exist), and anything else that may be available on the open market, so any lawyers, leave before I release the hounds!**

* * *

**27th January, 9:00am; Archangel-class Assault Ship: **_**Archangel**_**, Bridge**  
"We confirmed that the Enemy sent word for reinforcements prior to launching their attack on Heliopolis, also they captured the Asteroid Base near there, Morgenroete was working on the _Rewloola_ there" commented Natarle as she leaned up against a deactivated computer console.  
"That being some kind of ship?" asked Mu with a bored tone and Natarle nodded with a frown.  
"It was a secret project by the Orb Union after we refused it for a more variable ship, it's a Battleship as powerful as the _Archangel_ if not more so, however during the chaos it was overtaken by the Dark Celestials" announced Murrue as she leaned forwards "or so we have thus far confirmed based on theory work, the Factory Asteroid can be used to Customize the _Rewloola_ in any way possible in a short amount of time, I bet it will be moved to L7 after its work is complete here"  
"Are you planning to hit the Factory, it may be the only chance we get" commented Mu and Murrue shook her head.  
"The ZAFT Forces would be most concentrated in that region, countless Dark Celestial Ships are gathering in this place, the man whom took over the _Rewloola _was believed to have been the 'Dark King'" announced Murrue and a panicked look came over Natarle's face.  
"Then we better get out of here, NOW, no one has survived looking upon the 'Dark King' and the greater head start we have the better!" panicked Natarle and Mu gave her a glance.  
"Calm down, they can't know that we are still here, they will probably wait for us to make some kind of move before they begin their attack" announced Murrue as she walked towards the Captain's Chair "are you sure about Artemis, as agreed?"  
"It'll protect us from the 'Dark King' at any rate, for a time" nodded Mu with a grin while Natarle took a large breathe before heading over to CIC to check the systems.  
"Maybe we should ask Ryu for his opinion before we go flying off into the distance" commented Murrue and Mu nodded but before he could call up a transmission the youth they wanted put his head through the bridge doorway.  
"Did I hear my name?" questioned Ryu as he stepped into the Bridge "I was just coming to see what the three of you were scheming here to get away from the Dark Celestials"  
"We were thinking of heading for Artemis to get resupplied and perhaps an escort before moving towards Luna HQ, if we're lucky we may even get a message off to Luna HQ before we set out again, however there are certain guests on our tail that won't give us time to transmit effectively" announced Natarle calmly as she headed towards the executive officer station "not without being destroyed however"  
"Understandable, then Artemis is the best plan we could hope for, we'll head there and hope that the Eurasians have good manners" muttered Ryu as he stepped towards a control panel and looked at the data there "there are some powerful people in the Dark Celestials, but never enough to cause so many of their Force to come to this place, the 'Devil King' may be coming here"  
"Anyone we know?" asked Mu as he approached Ryu's side and looked at the Computer Console before him, whistling at the number of Dark Celestial Ships on an incoming vector.  
"Only their Leader, get everyone off break and get the ship moving!" commanded Ryu suddenly as he moved towards the Bridge Entrance, a panicked speed in his movements.  
**11:00am; Mobile Factory Asteroid: "Helios One", Ship Hanger/Factory Section B: Main Factory**  
Krane Vi Creuset's Flagship: the _Varda_, backed up into the hanger of the Mobile Factory and came to a stop as boarding platforms descended into place, there were Four Main sections to the Asteroid with two having Ship sized Hangers that doubled as Dry-Docks for building/improving ships or just simple resupply. Sections A through to E and F through to J were all lined up, separated through indestructible glass which each had their own glass Bulkhead which would be used should the Energy Shield over the hanger be deactivated or the Bulkheads open when the Shields were undergoing maintenance, now that the _Varda_ had settled into the Hanger the Shield reactivated as the docking clamps settled firmly around the massive _Varda_ as an access platform touched against the side doorway. Moments after the docking was complete the doorway of the Varda sprung open and a group of Newtype Soldiers exited before taking up saluting positions on either side of the doorway, once they were done with their preparations the heavy footfall of command came from the entrance of the Varda before a brown haired youth stepped out of the ship with a cape stretching down around his upper arms.  
"Welcome, Lord Krane" bowed Than as he looked at Krane's lean frame, Krane was as handsome when Than first met him if not older and taller, that vicious flame was still in his eyes even though it burned coldly and cruelly at those that admitted themselves as his enemy.  
Krane had his own personal outfit since he was an Ace and a high ranked member of the PLANTs Political and Military Regime, Krane's shoes were White while his pants were black leather except for the crotch area which held white leather instead and a red leather belt was also there for little more than appearance, Krane's shirt meanwhile looked like leather body armour that cut off at the armpit. Krane also had two upper arm bracelets made of rare Ebony Gold and an necklace with an a Kite shaped Amethyst at the end that Lord Kira Li Creuset had given him, on Krane's left wrist there was a watch while on Krane's right lower arm there was instead a Black Leather arm warmer, Krane's almost black brown hair fell to his ears as he calmly stopped before Than.  
"I am pleased you would permit me entrance, I was expecting you to take over ZAFT with the resources you have gained" joked Krane as he motioned up the main walkway on this side of Section B "please, walk with me for awhile, if you don't mind?"  
"Of course" smiled Than as he stood by Krane's side and the two of the turned left up the main walkway "I have a feeling the PLANT Supreme Council are surprised by what has happened here, I don't remember them being informed when I left"  
"They still haven't been, oh the surprise that Siegel will be having, I fear he may have a Heart Attack at his age" chuckled Krane as he continued to walk until they were turning Left so they were walking along the rear of the _Varda_ "you have done excellently in what I desired, Than, we can now move ahead with more aggressive actions"  
"The Mass Production of Beam Weapons will allow our research to expand, that and data from Andras we should be able to recreate everything that our ancestors created, well...your genetic ancestors" shrugged Than and Krane smirked.  
"Your right, I am not biologically the son of anyone, Rau Le Creuset's Pure Royal Genetic Data was input into me when Kira and I were just a fetus" muttered Krane with a slight chuckle "it makes Rau, by default my father, just by being genetically related to the Pure Newtype"  
"Your Majesty..." announced Than suddenly as he cut into their smalltalk "I have failed you...I underestimated the Legged Ship and the Tactical Team they have aboard, I expected that with the demise of their Captain and most of their piloting team that they would have insufficient experience to find a loophole in the middle of that Chaos, please accept my apologies and know that immediately I will set off after those fools and watch them drown in their own blood at the cost of my life...sacrificing my life to destroy them would be more than equal compensation"  
"No" growled Krane and Than winced at the seriousness "I need not your life as payment and I don't want you to head after the _Archangel _yet"  
"But, My Lord..." started Than however Krane cut him off.  
"Yet..." announced Krane as he paced over to the left side of the hanger and looked through the glass viewpoint to Section B where the _Rewloola_ was being worked on "you will wait until the _Rewloola_ has finished being upgraded and then I will permit you to chase after the Legged Ship, know also that I intend for you and your forces to return alive, I will accept your repentance through these actions"  
"Thank you, your Majesty" bowed Than before pacing off, Krane's smile following him all the way into Section A.

* * *

**6:00pm; Nazca-class Destroyer: **_**Vesalius**_**, Bridge**  
"We can make the assumption that the Archangel is now preparing to make a silent run for Artemis, Artemis is the most likely location they would head to because they know that we believe it to be the least likely risk that they would take, by heading for Artemis they would put themselves into a easier line of fire" pointed Kira as they looked at the Strategic Hologram "therefore it would be best on our part to instead ignore the recent launched Decoy heading towards the Moon and move to sweep ahead of the Legged Ship to cut them off before they reach Artemis, the _Gamow_ will then sweep in from behind and attack, we will use the 'Gundams' to outnumber and overpower their own forces"  
"This is a strategy thought up by you Kira based on training you gained with Krane, correct?" asked Rau as he floated closer to the Hologram table.  
"Indeed it was, you are dismissed, Athrun" nodded Kira and Athrun left the Bridge a little too quickly for Kira's liking.  
"Zala has been awful quiet as of late, increasingly the closer we get to this next sortie" announced Frederick Ades as he returned from giving commands on their direction and speed, the _Vesalius_ was heading towards Artemis at all speed, preparing to cut off the Archangel as swiftly as inhumanly possible.  
"Yes your right, do you detect anything out of the ordinary, Kira?" questioned Rau as he turned to look at the brunette while followed by Ades, Rau already knew that Kira was a Newtype however Captain Ades had his guesses and he was juggling it between Kira either having great luck or being a Newtype himself.  
"If I were you, I would take Athrun off the next sortie, he has personal feelings that have started to blossom and on the battlefield that could endanger his life" answered Kira ominously "I don't care if you look into the background behind it, Rau, however even if you do can you try to heed my words about this issue?"  
"I have decided that I will take interest when Athrun brings it up, until that time we are to consider Athrun an able and sacrifice-able pilot, you are dismissed Kira and may now rest or prepare for your next sortie" announced Rau and with a salute, Kira bound out the Bridge door and down the main hallway.

* * *

**7:30pm; Nazca-class Destroyer: **_**Vesalius**_**, Commander's Quarters**  
Rau typed away at the computer on the desk and looked at the data on the three units that Kira had brought back with him from Heliopolis, deciding that it was best that the information of the GAT-X106 Aviator and GAT-104 Striker should be put aside for now, he began to reference information from the Prototypes gathered before 'mixing and matching' the designs to formulate potential new designs. Rau then signed into the ZAFT Special Forces information access through an Encrypted transmission to Jachin Due on Rau's personal Dark Celestials account and looked at the Prototypes being worked on, Krane was having ZAFT Trial Run the DRAGOON System and to do this it was he whom started Project X which stared the ZGMF-X990 X Mobile Suite.  
"So Krane, you have redesigned the DRAGOON System into larger variants, yet you have then hidden the data on the DRAGOON 'Fangs' and their production method. But why?" pondered Rau aloud but then looked over to the doorway when he heard the intercom beep "who is it?"  
"Commander, it is Athrun Zala sir, I was hoping that I could have a word with you" announced Athrun at the closed doorway and Rau answered this by unlocking the doorway.  
"Very well" announced Rau as he pressed for the doorway to open and let Athrun step into the room.  
"Sir, I wanted to ask forgiveness for my efforts as of late, I have been...hesitant" started Athrun as he stepped up to the desk and Rau would have frowned if he could, however that would have given a poor image, so his face remained blank.  
"That is true Athrun, but the death of Rusty and many on the Task Force must have been hard on you, regardless I would hear your explanation" commanded Rau as he turned this chair to look at Athrun better.  
"The pilot of the GAT-X105 Strike is a person I know, her name is Hikari and she was my friend during my years at Luna Prep at Copernicus, I thought she would follow after me to the PLANTs after the War started but she never did..." continued Athrun before Rau cut in.  
"And now you believe that she has joined the Earth Forces? Yes, I can see why you would be distressed about that, this changes our plans quiet a bit" sighed Rau in annoyance as he pulled himself to his feet "very well, I am taking you off the next sortie"  
"Sir..." started Athrun but Rau cut in again.  
"You could never kill such a valued friend" injected Rau calmly as he held Athrun's gaze with a faked frown on his face.  
"Sir, I don't think that she fully understands that she is being manipulated by the Naturals, Hikari was naive and innocent to a fault" announced Athrun desperately "she would be easy for them to use to their advantage"  
"I see, but what if you are unable to talk her into joining us, you could put all of your teammates at risk" commented Rau causing a pause to fill the room.  
"If that were to happen...if she were to refuse to see the truth, then I'd shoot her down myself" added Athrun and Rau smiled sadly.  
"Very well Athrun, again my better instincts I agree that you should have this chance to convince you're friend, dismissed" announced Rau and Athrun saluted once before heading out of the doorway however once Athrun was gone Rau turned his head to look at the figure hidden in the shadows from Athrun's original sight "tell me Kira, was that the best choice to make?"  
"You could have done worse, if Athrun fails to attempt to take Hikari's life then I will instead take her life, what are friends for, right?" questioned Kira as he leaned against the wall with a smirk.  
"She was once you're friend too Kira, then again you won't let that stop you, will you?" commented Rau and Kira smirked coldly.  
"Naturally" answered Kira as he stood straight.

* * *

**9:00pm; Archangel-class Assault Ship: **_**Archangel**_**, Pilot's Changing Room**  
Ryu sat on stand-by as he looked at the laptop he had brought with him and his personal effects shortly before the Archangel had left Heliopolis even before it got bombed into a repairable husk, Ryu was making sure to memorise the information on the different G-Weapons that were available at Heliopolis and came across the agreement signed between Morgenroete and OMNI, the weapons were so advanced that Ryu doubted that they were fully the work of Coordinators or Naturals and therefore Newtype intervention had been a part of it leading to the Dark Celestials learning and then interfering. The Dark Celestials would have sent their young commanders to capture and/or destroy the technology built by the enemy, Beam Weapons had been a work in progress for Dark Celestial Mobile Suites and the fact that a team of Orb Union Workers were implementing it on their own Prototype Mobile Suites caused the Dark Celestials to be very picky with their technology, the Dark Celestials would assume a number of things including an information leak and so would engage to destroy the source of the problem as they were known to do so.  
"Damn it" complained Ryu as he looked over the data on the Units he would soon have to fight against most of the G-Weapons and survive, the main problem would be the GAT-X106 Aviator Gundam, it was a powerhouse without using up too much energy: its Duel Recoilless Cannon and Long-range Beam Rifle would be the main concern in the next battle.  
"Something wrong?" questioned Anzahl as he stepped into the room, Ryu motioned to the laptop which Anzahl nodded as he crossed over and sat down to look at the screen.  
"The GAT-X104 Striker was believed to have been stolen by Than Veia the 'Dark King', you know that he will kill us both if he learns that we have sided with the Earth Alliance in this conflict, more so considering the fact that Than is unofficially the second in command of the Dark Celestials" commented Ryu and Anzahl frowned.  
"I saw Than at Heliopolis, lovely personality on him since he wants to 'chop me into slivers', I can assume that he means more harm than good" muttered Anzahl and Ryu smirked.  
"You once had a crush on the 'Dark King', I believe, except you knew that Than was obsessed with Krane and vice versa" commented Ryu which Anzahl nodded at.  
"We need to be careful, Ryu, joke as we want about this but Than is deadly and in the Striker he is much more powerful than either of ours units, remember that the Striker has a higher reaction time assistance allowing it to mostly keep up with Than's every decision" commented Anzahl with an annoyance "even without that, Than is a good pilot, he could defeat us in the Strike with the Aile Striker"  
"Don't worry, Than will come after me above all else, he'll use me as something to distract himself from the anger he feels, something to take it out on" muttered Ryu and Anzahl nodded sadly "lets just hope the Dragon can take every attack that he gives"

* * *

**28th January, 1:00am; Mobile Factory Asteroid: "Helios One", Command Centre: Commander's Section**  
"Yes, what is it?" questioned Krane as he opened his eyes and looked over his shoulder slightly to see Than standing there "good news I hope?"  
"The _Rewloola_'s Upgrades are nearing completion, we shall be ready to set sail within the next hour, we know that the _Archangel_ is heading for Artemis and that Le Creuset is moving to intercept the _Archangel_ before it dock which Artemis will not risk lowering its defences for one ship" answered Than calmly as he stepped forwards "shall we prepare for the chase?"  
"Patience, Than. There is plenty of time in which we can join the hunt, meanwhile we should concentrate on perfecting our Forces as much as we can with our limited resources, then when we are at our best shall we attack the enemies in full force" announced Krane as he bridged his fingers "once we leave here, we shall have a Commander take over the directing of this Factory, he shall take it to be integrated with our resources at L7"  
"Very well, also the Orb Union's Head Newtype Scientist is refusing to surrender to us despite the others agreement to abandon their country, he is a Noble from the Orb Union whom states that you 'might as well hang him now', what is your decision on the matter?" asked Than and Krane scowled at this information.  
"I did give him a chance, Hang him if that is what he really wants, I could care less at this point" growled Krane as he sat back "all his research is documented anyway, we have plenty of researchers back at the Homeland that could use his research to further their own, that is all we can ask of the man"  
"As you wish" agreed Than as he motioned a Dark Celestial Soldier to go do as Krane wished "anything else"  
"Nothing, just make sure that we are ready to leave on the run, there is much we require to do and little time in which we can do it" dismissed Krane as his eyes once again slid shut.

* * *

**6:00am; Nazca-class Destroyer: **_**Vesalius**_**, Bridge**  
"It seems we've spotted the Legged Ship and it has spotted us, now Ades, this is the time" announced Rau as he sat forwards in his chair.  
"Halt advance, turn 180 Degrees!" commanded Frederick Ades as he sat forwards and started giving out commands "pilots are to go on stand-by in their Mobile Suites!"  
"They are to launch as soon as we confirm the Legged Ship is in fact ahead of us, their Objective is to capture or destroy the enemy Mobile Suite and destroy the enemy ship, failure will not be acceptable!" commanded Rau and Ades nodded once.

* * *

**6:05am; Nazca-class Destroyer: **_**Vesalius**_**, Pilot Rest Room**  
"I heard that Hikari is on that ship, Athrun, be sure to shoot her down if she gets in our way" announced Kira as he leaned back into the sofa with a smirk on his face.  
"Last time I checked, Kira, she was still your friend" growled Athrun and Kira glared at him as though he was staring defeat in the face.  
"It is talk like that which will lose this war, Athrun, we are at War and therefore Athrun if you were to suddenly become my enemy I'd shoot you without mercy too" countered Kira and Athrun winced slightly as Kira stood "lets get going then"

* * *

**6:10am; Archangel-class Assault Ship: **_**Archangel**_**, Pilot Waiting Room**  
"Alright, this is the game plan: the three of you will defend the Archangel, the Devastator personally will be acting as a Mobile defender aboard the _Archangel_ itself" announced Mu as he pointed out the different part of the plan "Hikari and Ryu will defend the ship from direct attacks from Mobile Suites, I will meanwhile move ahead and launch an attack on the Nazca-class in-front of us, forcing their retreat"  
"If the Dark Celestials were here, this plan will be useless Mu, they don't need ships to sink an enemy vessel" commented Ryu and Mu grinned at him.  
"Well, its all the better that we have yet to detect any any craft aligned with the Dark Celestials in the vicinity, right?" asked Mu as he headed off but froze when he heard Ryu call out.  
"I know about Than, know that nothing on this Earth will stop the 'Dark King' from reaching his target, not even the Umbrella of Artemis itself" shouted Ryu and Mu sighed despairingly.  
"I hope you're wrong kid, oh how I hope you're wrong" groaned Mu before pulling himself out of the room.  
"Try your best out there" smirked Anzahl as he tapped Hikari on the shoulder and headed towards the exit.  
"Well, we'd better go too" muttered Ryu as he headed over to the doorway before looking back "lets protect the _Archangel_, alright?"  
"Right" nodded Hikari as she rushed to follow.

* * *

**6:20am; L3: Near Artemis, Battlefield**  
"Down!" commanded Ryu as he dropped the Dragon into a rapid descent as two golden beams passed over where the Dragon and Strike had been just moments before.  
"I missed, huh? Hikari and that Natural must be something else" sneered Kira as he charged forwards and ducked the Aviator clean under the Dragon's swipe, heading towards the _Archangel_, its goal clearly being to get close enough for a decisive attack.  
"Damn it, Hikari, hold off the Aegis! I'll go after the Aviator!" shouted Ryu as he sent the Dragon after the sibling Gundam.  
"Hikari Yamato, its you isn't it, I'm right aren't I Hikari?" asked Athrun as he dodged the Aegis around the Strike trying his hardest not to harm it "what are you doing with the Earth Forces!"  
"I'm not with the Earth Alliance, the people I am friends with are on that ship and what about you, you said that you hated the whole idea of fighting so why did you join ZAFT! Why did you attacked Heliopolis!" questioned Hikari angrily as she dodged past the Aegis.  
"Because the Naturals built these machines at that place" answered Athrun darkly as beams between the Dragon and Aviator cut across the _Archangel_, the two units moving so fast the the CIWS couldn't track them.  
"Hmm, you are good but not good enough, weakling" cackled Kira as he dove the Aviator back before launching his complement of four IM-957F "King Cobra" missiles which slammed into the Dragon's Hydra Missile Shield which caused a reaction with the missiles, fortunately Ryu detached the shield and in a moment of insight threw it at the Aviator however to Ryu's surprise the Aviator's beam saber slashed through the doomed shield which exploded not far behind the Aviator in two pieces, next the Aviator zoomed away and Ryu growled as he prepared the "Mesamune" Heat Blade before chasing after it.  
Meanwhile the Aegis was watching on helplessly as Hikari was ruthlessly chased after by the GAT-X102 Duel which relentlessly attempted to destroy the Gundam, soon the GAT-X103 Buster joined in as the dueling two passed it followed by the GAT-X106 Aviator and the GAT-X207 Blitz, Athrun watched in horror as the Beam Rifle of the Strike sputtered one last time before the Phase Shift Armour on the machine gave out while lacking the energy to function. Just as the Duel was moving in for the kill, Athrun had a sudden burst of insight as he turned the Aegis to Mobile Armour mode and caught the Strike in its claws as it zoomed off in the direction of the ZAFT Ship, displeasing most of the Le Creuset Team and humouring Kira to no end whom had broken down into hysterical laughter.  
"Your not taking her anywhere!" yelled Anzahl as he took off from his position upon the _Archangel _where he had been firing, mostly missing, Kira and the Aviator while it was in the middle of its high speed battle with Ryu and the Dragon.  
"Dearka, Nicol, lets entertain ourselves on a measly bug" announced Kira with a laugh as he turned the Aviator to the approaching Devastator Gundam and fired his Recoil-less Cannons and Long-range Beam Rifle at it, the Devastator transformed out of Cannon Mode so that it could use its advanced speed as it put away one of its two Buster Rifles and drew a beam sabre, it let the rounds impact it however as it did nothing against the Phase Shift Armour however he gasped as the alarm went off singling the Phase Shift draining the Mobile Suite's last reserves.  
"Time to end this!" snarled Dearka as he launched a long range assault by firing the shoulder mounted missiles at the Devastator which flattened it against the _Archangel_'s deck while also causing the Phase Shift to die rather brutally.  
It was within the next few minutes that everything went to hell as the Moebius Zero piloted by Mu La Flaga zoomed in and fired its load against the Aegis causing it to release its precious cargo, the Strike had then crawled away as quickly as it could until it linked up with the Launcher Striker Pack followed by crimson beams of energy that forced the ZAFT G-Weapons to flee, Kira growled lightly as he headed back to the _Vesalius_ ahead of everyone while dismissing the unimportance of the rest of his team.

* * *

**9:00am; Pre-Minerva-class Heavy Battleship: **_**Varda**_**, Bridge Tower: Bridge**  
Krane sighed as he sat back in his Commander Chair/Throne atop the Bridge of the _Varda_ and reminded himself that the _Archangel _was necessary to cause strife in the Earth Alliance, research had come to a halt after the recent technological failures and this was due to vital pieces of information outside of other people's field however this had been cured with the data gained from the G-Project, it had advanced to the point actually where Andras had begun to move ahead with building their own Beam enabled weapons such as the recent Prototype CGUE Deep Arms to be put into limited production for the _Varda_ and _Rewloola_'s pilots.  
"You're Majesty, we are within range of the _Vesalius_, we can commit to a communication at any time" announced Captain Renaldo Verando as he turned to look at Krane "also there is a message from Cecile Boonar at the homeland, she says that she needs more than just having a lot of money, she has a blood thirsty desire to kill and destroy"  
"Tell her that I will consider her request, meanwhile open a transmission to the _Vesalius_, its time we talked with Rau" commanded Krane calmly and Renaldo nodded as he made a hand motion to their CIC Monitor: Dylan Frere.  
"You're online now" announced Dylan before the large screen in the front of the bridge lit up and Rau appeared on it.  
_"Welcome Krane, I was wondering what you were up to, doing all the way out here"_ commented Rau over a transmission.  
"Someone has to keep a record of your failures, Rau" countered Krane jokingly before he turned serious "you did fail to sink the _Archangel_ and you allowed it to get so far without intercepting it earlier, the Vesalius was damaged and the _Archangel_ is now speeding the remaining way to Artemis, forgive me if I see your failures with some...displeasure"  
_"Forgive me, Krane, that ship is built like a Fortress and their Mobile Suites are rather impressive" _announced Rau calmly over the transmission as he watched his son's reactions _"I have also been called back to the homeland, would you dare take care of everything here while I do so?"_  
"Take Kira and Athrun back to the Homeland, Than and I will deal with the continued march from here on, I will coordinate efforts to defeat the Earth Alliance on Earth if it descends to that" announced Krane calmly "see you when you return"  
"My Lord, we are being asked what to do with the _Gamow_" announced Renaldo after the communication with Rau was closed down.  
"Tell the _Gamow_ to form up with the Fleet, we will then decide upon a strategy to battle the Umbrella of Artemis" commanded Krane simply as he sat back, this would be more of a pain in Krane's ass then he would have liked.

* * *

**3:00pm; Archangel-class Assault Ship: **_**Archangel**_**, Hanger**  
"Hey, Hikari, come here a minute" shouted Ryu as he stepped out of his Mobile Suite just further up from where the Strike was docked.  
"Yeah, what is it?" questioned Hikari as she ran over and skidded to a halt when she saw Mu appear suddenly as well.  
"We need to ask a favour" shrugged Anzahl as he also walked over from the Devastator across from the Dragon "it has something to do with the Strike"  
"What is it?" asked Hikari and Mu grinned as he pulled her into a headlock.  
"We need you to put a lock on the Strike's O.S. so that you can pilot it and only you" announced Mu simply as he ruffled Hikari's hair.  
"The Eurasians may be allies of the Atlantic Federation however the _Archangel_ and its Mobile Suites do not have Identification Codes meaning that even if we do get into Artemis our protection isn't guaranteed, the man in charge of Artemis is a cruel and greedy bastard, if he wasn't such a coward then I'd mistake him for an undercover Dark Celestial Spy but regardless he will use the lack of ID against us in the long run" spat Ryu as he leaned against the Dragon "just make sure its done before we enter port"  
"Alright" nodded Hikari as she headed off back in the direction of the Strike.

* * *

**9:00pm; Pre-Minerva-class Heavy Battleship: **_**Varda**_**, Bridge Tower: Tactics Room**  
The _Varda_'s data must have fallen into the Orb Union at some point or at least a guess schematics of its Bridge Tower, like the _Varda_ it seemed that _Rewloola_ had a Tactics Room of similar size which held a Tactical Table for pre-battle planning and strategy, similarly their bridges had a Tactical Table also which was used for on the battlefield combat which Krane was glad for and a Commander Room halfway down the tower which was designed differently for the two commanders. Regardless, it was aboard the larger _Varda_ which had the most chance of survival in a sneak attack in which the Le Creuset Team, Than and Krane planned their next move.  
"Artemis' Lightwave Barrier is rather impressive" muttered Than as he leaned against the Tactics Table with a hand on his chin "if only we could sneak our Forces in some way"  
"Is it active all the time? It mustn't have the amount of energy to keep it online, nothing short of multiple Nuclear Reactors would be needed to give it a massively powerful defence and keep it active, even if all the Generators in that Asteroid were to transfer their power to the shield it would still not be enough for long term usage coupled with Life Support" announced Nicol Amalfi suddenly and Krane gave an impressed nod.  
"What about it?" asked Yzak coldly as he glanced at the youth "we still can't get in"  
"Nicol was getting to that, Yzak" commented Dearka calmly as he nodded to the youngest pilot "please continue, Nicol"  
"Yes, what is the point to this conversation, have you found a weakness that even we of the Dark Celestials have overlooked?" asked Krane calmly as he stared at the green haired youth.  
"Not exactly however we attained something that can get passed the enemy's sights if the shield were down, the GAT-X207 Blitz" announced Nicol and Than looked at Nicol with a raised eyebrow.  
"Oh?" questioned Krane as he leaned forwards with his hands on the table "please enlighten us about what you have found"  
"The Blitz has a special Particle using System called the Mirage Colloid System, it is designed to give complete Stealth from both visual and electronic detection through bending the Light and Radar Waves around it, therefore if the shield were to drop with the temporary withdrawal from this space then the Blitz would be able to slip through and disable the enemy shield indefinitely" explained Nicol causing Than to smirk.  
"I like this plan" announced Than as he stood and Krane nodded with a smile as he followed suite.  
"Very well, this plan will help us sink the _Archangel _therefore, the Operation will commence in 30 Hours, dismissed!" commanded Krane and the ZAFT Pilots saluted before leaving the room.

* * *

**29th January, 1:00pm; Nazca-class Destroyer: Vesalius, Commander's Quarters**  
"It seems that Krane has taken his spot as commander of my Forces rather well, the G-Weapons have amazing power, they just need a commander which can use them properly in complex and victory gaining strategies" muttered Rau as he sat back in his chair.  
"Which is also the reason why you left Krane in command?" asked Kira causing Rau to smirk.  
"Correct" answered Rau simply.

* * *

**8:00pm; Space Fortress: Artemis - Commander's Section, Commander's Office**  
Admiral Gerard Garcia smiled calmly at the display of the Archangel on his computer screen and considered the amount of power he would gain over the Eurasian Military by accessing the data on the Strike and the other Mobile Suites aboard that ship, hell the Admiral would even hand over the original Prototypes and the ship itself to his superiors if it would gain him a high enough promotion to put Garcia in the lap of luxury far away from the battlefield, now all Admiral Garcia needed was to put his plans into action which was first the unmaking of the Commanders among his 'guests'.  
"Welcome to Artemis" announced Garcia as he stood and shook the hands of those gathered "you will be happy to know that your Identification Checks out, you are each confirmed by ID Codes to be members of the Atlantic Federation Government and allies also, I find it surprising that there would be official ID on Mercenaries that are willing to aid the Earth Alliance in their mission to defeat the PLANTs"  
"I'm all for defeating the PLANT" countered Ryu emotionless and Garcia smirked lightly at the former ZAFT Ace.  
"However it is understandable that Terminal would side with Eurasia, unlike the Atlantic Federation, we have a very low number of people in Blue Cosmos and none have high Political or Military positions within our government, we welcome Coordinators that look to better our country" announced Garcia calmly and Ryu glared.  
"As your slaves" muttered Ryu under his breath which Garcia didn't catch.  
"I also well acquainted with your illustrious names: the Hawk of Endymion and the Dragon of Endymion, though on opposing sides you preformed admirably for your sides, I too saw my share of action while stationed at the Grimaldi Front" announced Garcia with a faked friendly smile as he watched the two Aces "but I heard that Ryu Hisanaga died at Endymion"  
"Like with most survivors, the feats of my demise were greatly exaggerated, like always" answered Ryu simply.  
"Oh yes, then you were with Commodore Velard's Unit?" asked Mu and Garcia smiled.  
"That's right" nodded Garcia calmly.  
"Forgive me, Admiral, but it is important that you know that we need to head to Luna HQ as soon as possible" announced Murrue as she stepped forwards "the Earth Alliance's victory depends on the data on board the _Archangel _and as you know, we're being pursued by ZAFT"  
"By ZAFT" smirked Garcia as he pressed a button on his desk causing the screen to make appear the ZAFT Fleet outside causing Mu and Ryu to pale "as you can see the enemy have been roaming around outside the Umbrella and have been there quite some time, even if we were to rush the resupply of the ship, your ship would be unable to leave anyway"  
"But sir, ZAFT and the Dark Celestials are not going to give up their pursuit, it is best we leave than risk damage to Artemis" announced Mu and Garcia gave a light chuckle.  
"Damage to Artemis, damage to our base? Their powerless to do anything to us and will eventually leave, it happens all the time, Dark Celestials or no" dismissed Garcia and Ryu frowned and tensed, Anzahl reached out his Newtype senses and tensed so quickly that it was like he was recoiling from an attack.  
"With all due respect Commandant, we're up against the Dark Celestials and new enemy ships, if you truly were at Endymion then you would know that no defence thrown against the Dark Celestials has been unbreakable" announced Mu however was stopped by Garcia raising a hand.  
"At any rate, I suggest you get some R&R, you deserve it after the trials that you have fought through" dismissed Garcia with a wave as Soldiers showed them out.

* * *

**30th January, 2:00am; Laurasia-class Frigate: **_**Gamow**_**, Officer Rest Room**  
"The Earth Forces sure come up with some odd stuff" muttered Yzak as he sat back into the sofa as he watched Technicians preparing the Blitz for launch.  
"Yes, the perfect weapon for Nicol, a weapon fit for a coward" chuckled Dearka as he watched the Blitz line up on the Catapult "now we move to phase two, right? The Fleet pulls back out of sight causing the Lightwave Barrier to be turned down from Alert Ready, one the Blitz does its job, we move in and teach those pot bellies what for!"  
"Right" agreed Yzak with a smirk.

* * *

**2:30am; Pre-Minerva-class Heavy Battleship: **_**Varda**_**, Pilot Rest Room**  
"I don't understand" complained Than as he glared over at Krane "why won't you let me sortie!"  
"Because I need someone in a position to give back-up should it become necessary, if we are to get out of Artemis with minor damage then we'll require extensive reserve Forces, this includes the Rewloola and yourself" announced Krane calmly as he lay back on a sofa "I have thought of every possible outcome, this is the best course of action at this present time, the more of our men that survive the better"  
"I can only assume that you intend for our Forces to battle an entire OMNI Battle Group afterwards, that is, it isn't it? You're expecting the Archangel and its Mobile Suites to escape the combat zone!" growled Than as he leaned forward in Krane's direction.  
"Indeed, it is one of many necessary outcomes, but I need you to make sure that our Forces can continue the pursuit!" commanded Krane and Than gave an annoyed growl as he bowed once however Than soon found himself within Krane's arms being held tight "trust me, Precious King, this is the best decision"  
"A-alright" agreed Than and Krane nuzzled his lover's neck once before moving across to the doorway that led into the hanger, to prepare his Custom CGUE Assault for battle.

* * *

**3:30am; Space Fortress: Artemis, Main Ship Hanger: Battlefield**  
"Found them" announced Nicol as he slashed through a Moebius Mobile Armour as the Strike lifted off in-front of the Archangel "you're not getting away this time!"  
Nicol dodged the beam attacks of the enemies before him, allowing the Dragon and Devastator to pass by him as he continued on to fight against the Strike, Nicol fired the Blitz's "Gleipnir" Anchor at the Sword Strike which the Sword Striker equipped Strike countered by firing its own wired projectile: the "Panzer Eisen" Rocket Anchor.  
"Damn, he made it all the way in here" groaned Hikari annoyed as the Anchors deflected each other, Hikari then had the Sword Strike draw its "Schwert Gewehr" 15.78m Anti-Ship Sword, before chasing after the Blitz which was retracting its "Gleipnir" Anchor.  
While they were fighting a number of heavy armour rounds landed around the Dragon which destroyed the Ships and Mobile Armours surrounding it, the Dragon dodged the rounds as Krane's Custom CGUE Assault charged in his direction surprising him as Krane bludgeoned him with shots, its not that the Heavy Weapon was doing no damage at all it was instead the rate which the Phase Shift Armour was forced to absorb the projectiles thrown at it, roughly half of the battery power had already been used up by the Phase Shift Armour which caused Ryu to growl as he ducked under the next barrage and up over the next until he was right next to the Custom Mobile Suite which ducked down so fast under the Dragon's "Mesamune" Heat Blade that Ryu almost had whiplash at the speed he turned the Dragon around.  
"You're..." started Ryu and Krane smirked as he twisted his Prototype CGUE Assault around and kicked the Dragon in the chest sending it into the Bridge of a Nelson-class Battleship.  
"Ryu Hisanaga, it seems that death has made you sloppy and useless, therefore you should spare yourself humiliation and die again!" snarled Krane as he smirked at the encased Dragon before firing heavy rounds from the presently shoulder mounted Twin Gatling Gun Wings into the Nelson-class which began to spark from the damages it had gained "enjoy your trip to hell!"  
"Maybe, you should, because you're going there first, Devil King!" snarled Ryu as he launched himself off the Nelson-class' wreckage before it exploded, missing Krane again as he sensed the attack and ducked under the incoming attack, having the CGUE knee the Dragon in the cockpit which rocked Ryu around for lack of damage.  
"Oh, dearest spawn of Father's Newtype Genetics, why do you hate me so?" asked Krane with a cruel laugh while he dodged backwards towards the rear of the Hanger "is it because of what I did to that _human_, IF you call her that!"  
"Shut up!" snarled Ryu and Krane laughed hysterically.  
"She was an Extended, to save her you had to kill her, that was our deal otherwise she would have rotted away in a prison somewhere under Newtype Guard" sneered Krane as he blocked the "Mesamune" Heat Blade with the CGUE Assault's MA-M4A Heavy Sword "one way or another, without treatment, those flimsy Extended don't last long, do they?"  
"I said shut up!" snarled Ryu as he cut off the CGUE's left arm and prepared the Scylla on the Scylla Shield however something happened that Ryu never expected, the MA-M4A Heavy Sword became lodged in the Dragon's right upper arm cutting the power transfer to the arm, the shield and arm becoming limp.  
"While you were losing control of your emotions, your ultimate weakness may I add, I was waiting for the one moment when the GAT-X000 Dragon Gundam reveals its greatest weakness. More specifically, when it draws too much power through a limb it causes the Phase Shift Armour to fluctuate due to the Phase Shift's own energy being foreshadowed through the larger amount of energy being transferred along the limb" explained Krane as he gained some space between the Dragon and himself which was righting itself "your impatience and anger has always been your downfall, though you are genetically the Ultimate Soldier, however as you cannot control your emotions you a physiologically a failure"  
Krane growled as Ryu suddenly went on the offensive and cut off the lower Right Arm of Krane's CGUE, next Ryu spun the "Mesamune" Heat Blade and slashed through the legs of the CGUE at the knee as Krane flew past, Krane lifted his High Mobility Wings ready to attack however the "Mesamune" Heat Blade quickly removed the Barrels of the Duel Gatling Gun making it weaponless and helpless.  
"You're helpless now, Krane, as a member of Terminal it would be a mercy to this world for me to put you out of your misery" announced Ryu as he aimed the "Mesamune" Heat Blade next swing towards the Custom CGUE.  
"Clearly you forget important facts, Ryu Hisanaga, I always have a Plan B or Plan C or Plan D and well...you know how the alphabet goes" sneered Krane as he backed away from the Dragon before spinning around and flying off as the Buster and Duel appeared to fight "excellent pawns that Rau left me, let them play with you a bit!"  
"Damn you, Krane" growled Ryu as he watched the Prototype CGUE Assault soar away towards the Exit to Artemis' Hanger as a Mir appeared on one of the HUD Screens "what is it?"  
_"The _Archangel _is moving out, you are to withdraw to the ship, hurry!"_ shouted Miriallia over transmission before cutting it after Ryu gave an annoyed sigh and set the Dragon Gundam back in the direction of the _Archangel _with flames rippling around him.

* * *

**5:15am; Pre-Minerva-class Heavy Battleship: **_**Varda**_**, Bridge Tower: Commander Room**  
Krane just sat back in the Super Computer Room as he meditated the purpose in which the enemy was fighting so hard to get those weapons to the Earth Forces, only the Strike presently had the battle data and schematics to be able to create a Mass Production Variant but even then it would lack a Natural-use O.S. that allowed it to be used, therefore they were grasping at straws unless the Strike did have a Natural O.S. which would explain its overall importance.  
"I can't believe you lost to a Natural" complained Than whom sat on the floor near the doorway while pouting like a child "I know that they have better machines but surly you could have lasted against them a lot longer"  
"Actually, I was fighting something more than human, does the name Ryu Hisanaga ring any bells?" asked Krane as he pressed a button causing a holographic Screen to appear showing Ryu's profile, moments later Krane had to duck out of the way as Than threw a Pistol at the Holographic Screen which the projectile went straight through.  
"That Bastard is fucking alive, that cock killing and brain dead Bastard!" snarled Than and Krane smiled slightly as his Throne swerved around on hidden hydraulics to face Than "so that bastard did a 'Devil King' on us and came back from Hell, fuck him, I'll sending screaming back into the Pit!"  
"That was my intention" announced Krane and Than froze a moment in his rant before continuing on in a more Commander Explanatory way "to let you off the leash I mean, the destruction of the _Archangel_ takes second priority to the destruction of the GAT-X105 Strike and the GAT-X000 Dragon piloted by an unknown Pilot and Ryu Hisanaga, I don't want Ryu's aiding the Earth Alliance to become public knowledge otherwise every Newtype will be at his throat when they have more important things to be doing, Ryu cannot be allowed to find out or ruin our plans and so he must be exterminated before he causes disharmony among our fellow Newtypes! Is this Understood!"  
"Yes sir, you can trust me, does this mean I can sortie next time?" asked Than with a look of cruel glee on his face.  
"The Dark King is going out to feast on the blood of his victims" answered Krane and Than threw back his head and laughed madly to the ceiling.

* * *

**Author's Note - Really People, we've worked so hard to entertain you, so either review, or be introduced to my shiny bird-like eye.**

* * *

**Mobile Suites:**  
**GAT-X000 Dragon Gundam**  
**Unit type:** Prototype all purpose mobile suit  
**Powerplant: **Ultracompact energy battery, power output rating unknown  
**Equipment and design features: **  
Sensors, range unknown  
Flight pack  
**Fixed armaments:**  
2 x "Igelstellung'"75mm multi-barrel CIWS, fire-linked, mounted on head  
1x _Integrated Weapon Shield_, mounted on left arm  
1x "Mesamune" Heat Blade, mounted on right arm, extended in use  
2x Energy transfer cable  
**Optional armaments: **  
1x Type 71-beam rifle, stored on hip, hand carried in use  
1x Bazooka  
1x Aqua shotgun  
1x MA-22Z prototype high density beam sniper Rifle  
_Integrated Weapon Shields (IWS): _  
Missile shield (4x missile pods, 5x Hydra-class missiles per pod)  
"Trikeros" offense/defence system, mounted on left arm, (featuring: 50mm High-Energy Beam Rifle, power rating unknown; Beam Saber; Lancer Darts)  
"Scylla" shield ("Scylla" 580 mm energy cannon).  
**Armour:** Phase Shift Armour  
**Pilot(s):** Ryu Hisanaga  
**Appearance: **Has a frame similar to the Hyaku Shiki with the Strike's head, its shield runs along the arm in a similar manner to the Blitz.  
**Colours: **Primary Black with red trim and woodland green on thighs, face and Biceps.  
**Info:** Precursor to all the G-weapons most significantly the Strike with its IWS system replacing the Striker packs. This mobile suit was originally to be scrapped due to its difficulty to control, even more so than the other G-weapons. The "Mesamune" Heat Blade operates similarly to the Exia's GN sword/rifle but does not have a gun attached to it and is directly attached to the arm of the mobile suit. The Dragon is capable of mounting striker packs. The Designer of the mobile suit is unknown but rumours point it towards the fabled Dragon of Endymion.

**GAT-X106 Aviator Gundam**  
**Developed From**: GAT-X105 Strike  
**Unit Type**: Prototype All-Purpose Long-lasting Aerial Mobile Suit  
**Launched:** January 25, 71 C.E.  
**Operators:**  
Earth Alliance - Atlantic Federation  
ZAFT - Dark Celestials  
**Power Plant: **Ultracompact Energy Battery; 2x backup Ultracompact Energy Battery, located in Backpack  
**Armaments: **  
1x 70mm Long-range Beam Rifle, replaceable clip located on waist  
2x "Igelstellung" 75mm multi-barrel CIWS  
2x Beam Saber  
**Wing Armament:**  
1x Dual recoil-less cannon, located on shoulders and folded when not in use  
4x AIM-957F "King Cobra" missile  
2x "Igelstellung" 125mm multi-barrel CIWS Vulcan  
**Special Equipment: **  
Atmospheric Flight/High Speed Space Wings  
Prototype 360-degree panoramic cockpit  
**Armour: **Phase Shift Armour  
**Known Pilots:** Kira Li Creuset  
**Info: **A Prototype Mobile Suite that was quickly based off the GAT-X105 Strike and since there was limited time left on the Project, they equipped it was two external batteries in the backpack rather than spend more time and money on looking into the energy consumption flaws, though it was captured by ZAFT most of the data on the Aviator managed to the Earth Alliance which then used the data in the: GAT-X333 Raider Full Spec, AQM/E-M11 Doppelhorn Striker, AQM/E-A4E1 Jet Striker and early information along with the Data on the GAT-X303 Aegis from long distance reports influenced the building of the GAT-X370 Raider Gundam.

**GAT-X302 Devastator Gundam**  
**Unit Type: **Prototype Heavy Artillery transformable Mobile Suite  
**Operators: **Earth Alliance  
Orb Union  
Terminal  
**Powerplant: **Ultracompact Energy Battery  
**Armaments: **  
2x Large Beam Saber  
2x Long-range Beam Rifle  
4x "Valiant Mk.8" 20cm linear cannon  
2x "Panzer Eisen" rocket anchor  
**Special Equipment: **Unknown number of Energy Condensers  
**Armour: **Phase Shift Amour  
**Known Pilots: **Anzahl Clyne  
Info: A prototype Transforming Mobile Suite that inspired the creation of the GAT-X303 Aegis, the Devastator is a design that works on the basic transformation from a Heavy Attacking Mobile Suite to a General-type Mobile Suite, to that end it was designed for simple transformations between a "Cannon Mode" and a "Mobile Suite Mode" which later this is modified (as seen in the Aegis) into the "Mobile Armour Mode".


	4. Phase 3: The Strategy

**Phase 3 – The Chase**

**Disclaimer – Again and Again we say this yet again and again I get Lawyers Knocking down my door saying that I do not own this story, no shit Sherlock, now leave me be or I, DragonKnightRyu will introduce your ass to Blaid's gun.**

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* * *

**

**1****st**** February, 8:30am; Nazca-class Destroyer: **_**Vesalius**_**, Bridge**  
The _Vesalius_ headed towards the Dock before it and confirmed that it had a beacon from the Dry-Dock before it proceeded towards it, shortly along the route it turned 180 Degrees and reversed into the Dock with calm precision despite the ship being damaged, Ades ceased giving commands as he turned and looked at Rau whom stood beside his Captain chair with a smirk upon his face.  
"Will you be taking Athrun and Kira with you to the enquiry?" asked Ades and Rau smirked at the Captain.  
"Yes, Athrun and Kira were present during the incident, Athrun also has the capacity for common objective analysis while Kira has Krane's intelligence resources from the Dark Celestials" answered Rau calmly as he continued to stare forwards "best not to bring up Kira's 'Official' Rank anytime soon"  
"I understand that Orb is outraged and has been mounting a planet-wide protest" commented Ades as he changed the subject.  
"Ades, the problem should actually be viewed from a more important perspective, _ours_" added Rau and Ades nodded.  
"Yes" agreed Ades as he watched Rau calmly.  
"How are you with repairs and resupplies to the _Vesalius_?" asked Rau as he smirked "though we have been granted some down time, we're still racing against the clock, so it seems"

* * *

**Meanwhile; Archangel-class Assault Ship: Archangel, Bridge**  
"Reconfirming Status, no enemies within a 5000 Kilometres radius, it appears they've lost sight of us" announced Jackie Tonomura as he worked from the CIC Pit.  
"All that Pandemonium at Artemis must have covered our escape, so we should be thankful to them if only for that" commented Mu from where he sat "however with both the Dark King and Devil King being reported leaving Artemis we can assume that they'll catch up sooner rather than later"

* * *

**9:00am; L5: Nazca-class Destroyer Dry-Dock 4, Shuttle **  
"National Defence Chairman Zala" announced Rau as he entered the Shuttle followed by Kira and Athrun which they followed suit saluting "we hope you will permit us to accompany you"  
"No formalities here" dismissed Patrick Zala calmly with a wave of his left hand "in point of fact, you never saw me on this shuttle, do I make myself clear now, Athrun?"  
"Yes I understand, of course, it's been awhile father" answered Athrun calmly as the Shuttle began to move.  
"Needless to say, I wholly agree with the opinion you expressed in the report, the fundamental issue is that we have evidence showing that they have secretly developed these advance Mobile Suites" announced Patrick calmly as he continued to look forwards "we'll forget all about the pilot, I took it upon myself to emit that section"  
"Ah, I'm grateful to you, I felt confident that you'd make such a sound decision" commented Rau while Athrun looked at his father.  
"Just think of their reaction if they find out that the pilots of the remaining machines are Coordinators, such admissions would only delay our efforts while we would only be forced to listen to the Moderate Faction arguing needlessly" added Patrick pointedly.  
"Krane would want the same, he is hiding influential information when it comes to the enemy, we have no idea how many of Terminal are that close to the Supreme Council" announced Kira as he leaned over Patrick's chair from where he had been sitting behind him "Newtype thoughts would be damaged by the information and it would cause disorder, it would annoy the Newtypes at any rate to acting rashly, some information requires to be hidden for as long as possible"  
"Wouldn't you also find it unpleasant..." commented Rau as he turned to look at Athrun "to have a report refer to your friend, someone whom has switched allegiances to the Earth Forces?"  
"Ah, not exactly, but..." started Athrun however Patrick cut in quickly.  
"The Earth Alliance have created Advance Mobile Suites that performs beyond the boundaries of anything we have imaged possible, except for the Newtypes that is but that shall be also hidden from the reading eyes, but a the Mobile Suite is powerful even with a Natural piloting it and that is what the report will say, do I make myself clear Athrun?" demanded Patrick as he watched Athrun cautiously.  
"Yes Father" answered Athrun simply.  
"What do you believe we should do, sir?" asked Kira as he sat back down calmly ignoring an agitated glance from Athrun.  
"We must take a much more serious approach to this situation, it is the only way for us to bring a quick end to the war" answered Patrick and Kira grinned.  
"Krane feels the same" agreed Kira calmly as he shut his eyes "the more enemies we destroy on that route, the better chance we will have of completing our goals"  
"Indeed" nodded Rau with a slight smile.

* * *

**1:00pm; L5: PLANTs - Aprilius One, Government Building: Supreme Council Meeting Room **  
"The Committee of the Supreme Council will begin a special enquiry on the Heavy damage to the Colony of Heliopolis, a Territory of the Orb Union" announced Siegel Clyne as he bridged his fingers calmly "first – Rau Le Creuset, you shall start by delivering your report"  
"Yes sir" announced Rau as he stood with a military stance before stepping up to the console in front of the sitting area to speak.

* * *

**Meanwhile; Pre-Minerva-class Heavy Battleship: **_**Varda**_**,** **Bridge Tower: Commander Room**  
"Sir, we have news about your son" announced Kale over a transmission and Krane nodded slightly at the elder brother of Cecile Boonar "the Earth Alliance remnants remaining at Heliopolis were idiots, we dug them out of ejected Shelters and questioned them, in fact a Mobile Suite found within the ruins is being brought to you and it was your son that was meant to pilot it"  
"Name?" asked Krane calmly.  
"He goes by the name Lukas O'Donnell, he was adopted by the Earth Alliance when they attacked Mendel Colony, he is only your son because he was cloned from your genetic outline" answered Kale as he looked at the data off screen which Krane nodded to "he is roughly 15 now"  
"So the Files from Mendel were true, how annoying, it seems we must somehow get our hands on him" groaned Krane in annoyance "carry on and look into it further for me"

* * *

**1:30pm; L5: PLANTs - Aprilius One, Government Building: Supreme Council Meeting Room **  
"I trust that you can appreciate from the events you just witnesses that our actions were not intended as an assault on Heliopolis but the result of Collateral Damage and that the Earth Forces instigated the Dark Celestials in taking this dire course of action, thank you for your kind attention, that concludes my report" announced Rau calmly as he saluted before walking back to be seated.  
"So Orb was in league with the Earth Forces after all, their the ones whom deliberately violated the treaty!" commented Yuri Amalfi loudly as he looked at all the members on the table.  
"However Representative Yuri Amalfi..." injected Eileen Canaver as she sat forwards.  
"Those whom decide to make Earth their home cannot be trusted" cut off Parnel Jesek calmly as he glared around the table.  
"But tell me, Commander Le Creuset!" announced Patrick Zala as he stood catching Rau's gaze "the Prototype Mobile Suites of the Earth Forces, are they worth all the sacrifices that were made by our ZAFT Forces to secure them?"  
"To illustrate to you their phenomenal capabilities, I have here two of our pilots, they both operated their machines against the last that remain with the enemy" announced Rau calmly "I would like to have permission for Athrun Zala to brief you on their Capabilities while Kira Li Creuset gives technological data collected by the Dark Celestials to better inform you of our situation"  
"Very well, Le Creuset, you may proceed Athrun, Kira" nodded Siegel Clyne in agreement.

* * *

**3:00pm; L5: PLANTs - Aprilius One, Government Building: Outside Supreme Council Meeting Room **  
"Ah, Athrun, Kira" smiled Siegel as he stepped out of the meeting room and turned to the saluting two.  
"Chairman Clyne" announced Athrun with a smile while Kira remained quiet with a scowl.  
"You know there is no reason for you to stand on ceremony with me" dismissed Siegel calmly with a smile.  
"Well...well I thought it might be..." started Athrun however Siegel cut in shortly afterwards.  
"Just when you finally returned, it is now my daughter Lacus who has to be away on business, when will you two take time from your busy schedules to see each other?" asked Siegel and Athrun turned to follow up with Kira close behind.  
"Well, I am sorry about that, sir" added Athrun before Siegel turned to look at Kira.  
"And as for you, Kira. I'm surprised at how well you have taken to live combat, later I would ask to move you into a special unit, if you're interested" announced Siegel as he walked towards Evidence 01 "as for you Athrun, apologizing to me won't do you any good but you should be aware it's about to get hectic again, I can understand both of your fathers' points of view however..."  
"Athrun Zala, Kira!" shouted Rau and the group of three turned to see Rau pacing from the meeting room before quieting his tone as he approached "we're going after that new Warship and Mobile Suites, the La Cony and Porta Teams have now been assigned under my command, we'll be moving out in 72 hours!"  
"Yes sir" saluted Athrun and Kira simply nodded.  
"If you would excuse us, Chairman Clyne" saluted Rau with Athrun following suit.  
"Send the details that you happen to be speaking about to Krane's Mansion later today, goodbye Chairman" announced Kira with a sneer as he saluted Siegel before walking off.  
"Hmm, this is pointless, what reason do we have to expand the Frontline of battle?" asked Siegel as he turned to speak to Patrick Zala as he approached.  
"It is exactly that we can't forgive them, those that get in our way" answered Patrick calmly as he turned his head to look at Siegel emotionlessly.

* * *

**2****nd**** February, 1:00pm; Archangel-class Assault Ship: **_**Archangel**_**, Captain's Quarters**  
"Welcome, Ryu, I was hoping to speak to you" announced Murrue with a smile as she watched Mu and Ryu walk into her room "I have Natarle in charge up on the Bridge"  
"Alright, what is it you want?" asked Ryu and Murrue smiled lightly.  
"I was hoping that, give your reaction to the Dark Celestials, you'd know how to escape their pursuit, especially now that they have the G-Weapons with them" explained Murrue calmly as she nodded to a Strategic Hologram of nearby Space.  
"The Dark Celestials are very fond of encirclement Formations, they will advance with the intention of drawing the ship into the centre of their Force where it can easily be destroyed, failing that they will have ships watch out for the Archangel and move in to attack the Archangel all at once" commented Ryu as he stepped up to the desk "their is one way to make it difficult for them, the Debris Belt around the Earth holds a lot items that can hide our location and befuddle Newtype senses for a short while, we could resupply on one of the abandoned Colony wreckage out there"  
"How long do you expect that we could lose them for in the Debris Belt compared to other methods, from here we could just descend to Earth" questioned Murrue and Ryu smirked lightly.  
"You've made it pretty obvious that you intend to get in contact with Admiral Lewis Halberton of the Earth Alliance's 8th Fleet, therefore the means of getting closer to the projected Orbit of the 8th Fleet is to head through the Debris Belt, if we're successful we can outrun the ZAFT Forces which will take time in searching for us" announced Ryu and Murrue nodded before sending a written message to the Bridge.

* * *

**4****th**** February, 11:00am;** **Pre-Minerva-class Heavy Battleship: **_**Varda**_**, Bridge Tower: Commander Room**  
"I don't understand, Krane" complained Than as he glared off towards one of the room's walls "why are we waiting for resupply?"  
"Because we don't have the resources nor the Mobile Suite Quality to sufficiently destroy the Archangel, therefore we are replacing our outdated Mobile Suites with more advanced ones, Mobile Suites equipped with Beam Weaponry" answered Krane calmly as he continued to expand his Newtype presence and predicting future actions, his ever loyal Soldiers had their minds open to him, allowing Krane to taste their knowledge and emotions.  
"But why did you request the _Beaumont_ to search the Debris Belt?" asked Than and Krane smirked.  
"Because it was nearby off duty, we could use it to locate and/or spook the _Archangel_ into making a move that they cannot afford, once we're underway we'll chase after the _Beaumont_ and see if it unleashes any fishes to catch" answered Krane calmly.  
"I also had our spies in the Earth Alliance watch their Fleets for the Arrival of the Archangel, do you assume it'll head for an Earth Alliance Force in space before descending to Earth?" wondered Than and Krane chuckled.  
"Like a fish to water" announced Krane humorously before going serious "you dislike the fact I sent the _Beaumont_ because the Amsel team is on that ship"  
"Victor Amsel really doesn't like Ryu Hisanaga, they are essentially siblings since their days on the 'Ultimate Soldier' Project, albeit he is more...insane" muttered Than and Krane chuckled as he opened his eyes and looked back at Than.  
"That is why we'll give him commands with no restrictions in them, he is a loose Cannon which could be dangerous which is why we don't restrict him hence we point the cannon at the Naturals and give it some space, it can do as it likes so long as it follows the basic commands I give it" commented Krane cruelly "then Ryu Hisanaga, my precious Dragon"  
"Truly he was the perfect creation by Rau, he even named him similar to his own name, Ryu was created to Bodyguard you about and act as your Vassal" announced a Voice before a Orange Haired Young Man walked into the Command Room, causing Krane to turn his head to look.  
"Andras" nodded Krane and the Youth smirked at the Newtype Prince "how is the resupplying going, Andras Casaba?"  
"You're Majesty, I'm here to take you to the Hanger, your new Unit has already arrived" announced Andras and Krane nodded with a sigh as he stood.  
"Then take me, former Emperor of the Newtypes" sneered Krane and Andras bowed before leading Krane out of the room.

* * *

**5****th**** February, 7:00pm; Pre-Minerva-class Heavy Battleship: **_**Varda**_**, Hanger**  
Krane sat in the Mobile Suite 'borrowed' from Heliopolis during the Search led by the Laurasia-class: _Florien_, the Mobile Suite was classified as the GAT-X50 Revelation which Andras had announced was a Relic equipment rebuilt in Mobile Suite Form and contained the experimental equipment that researchers had been working on for over 12000 years, the Revelation had a special engine module which together with a special particle unleashed unlimited energy and a radioactive emergency switch to supercharge the particles within the engine so that it could be operational. Andras called the Powerplant a "Creation Engine" which once it was made operational gave the Revelation near endless combat strength and power, with this in mind Krane had occupied himself in the cockpit by rewriting the O.S. for his own personal use with Andras' aid whom had been the original pilot of the machine roughly 2000 years prior, then again Andras was immortal and therefore an anomaly in the cycles of Aging and Death.  
"The Reaction Speed of the Right arm is off by 5%" complained Krane as he continued to type into the Keyboard stretched across his front.  
"Noted" answered Andras as he typed outside on a Laptop while nodding towards a Tech Team "we'll calibrate it in a few minutes"  
"Did you replicate the Computer System and equipment Schematics for the unit, I doubt that there is another Newtype Weapon like this which gives us ancient Newtype Technology, know what I mean?" asked Krane and Andras smirked as he lifted a data card from the laptop and waved it in front of the Cockpit "ah, smart Bastard"  
"The Mobile Suite is expendable now however I added a Panoramic Cockpit to the machine just to make it more...effective, it should be able to fight any of the G-Weapons and fight against them on par with technology however due to its Powerplant you will have very few limitations, it can fight for an infinite amount of time" announced Andras as he typed at a Computer terminal after setting down his Laptop, Krane nodded at Andras once he had stood out from the Cockpit of the Mobile Suite.

* * *

**6****th**** February, 3:00pm; Archangel-class Assault Ship: **_**Archangel**_**, Lacus' Room**  
"Are you alright Lacus?" asked Anzahl to his sister "you're not hurt or anything are you?"  
"No, I am fine brother" said Lacus shaking her head and smiling at the red headed teen "are you alright, I heard about Heliopolis and feared for the worst"  
"I'm alright Lacus, it takes more than some ZAFT pilot to take me out" boasted Anzahl "why do you think they call me the 'Speed Cannon'"  
A knock on the door interrupted any reply that Lacus would of had as Ryu entered in carrying a couple trays of food.  
"Hello again Miss Clyne" greeted Ryu calmly as he set the trays down "I hope that everything is well for you, aside from the obvious however"  
"I am well Ryu" assured Lacus "and please, call me Lacus"  
"Fine, Lacus" relented Ryu nodding with a short smile "I must admit I was surprised when we found you in the escape pod"  
"That's a rare event" stated Anzahl "Ryu being surprised"  
Ryu snorted and rolled his eyes slightly as his body seemed to relax.  
"I was on my way to Junius Seven to hold a memorial for those who died during the Bloody Valentine Tragedy" explained Lacus "we were stopped for inspection by an EA vessel when the crew put me into an escape shuttle to protect me as the EA personnel suddenly attacked."  
"I see" said Ryu nodding in understanding "how is your fiancé, Athrun, doing by the way?"  
Lacus smiled gratefully at the subject change as the three friends dissolved into conversation filled with laughter.

* * *

**7****th ****February, 11:00am; Pre-Minerva-class Heavy Battleship: **_**Varda**_**, Bridge Tower: Commander Room**  
"Krane" commented Than as he stepped into the Command Room "we have confirmed that the _Archangel_ is heading towards an Earth Alliance Advance Fleet, with this in mind I believe we can cut them off at the pass, if we rush"  
"No, actually the _Varda_ and _Rewloola_ will break away to head for the _Vesalius_' position, meanwhile all remaining ships with lure the _Archangel_ into the waiting arms of the _Beaumont_" announced Krane calmly causing Than to growl "don't be upset Than, we need to take out that Earth Alliance Fleet before the _Archangel_ arrives to stop them alerting their Home Fleet and therefore we need to stall the _Archangel_ before putting it in a position that it has to come to the rescue, it will also give our allies the chance to weaken the _Archangel_ enough for our Forces to finish it off once it arrives"  
"Ah I see, a simple plan, its unlike you and not even Ryu Hisanaga will expect it" announced Than with a gleeful smirk.  
"Agreed, after all it is Ryu whom will be most duped, he has the Insanity of his Genetic Brother to deal with after all" smirked Krane as he sat back "it was for that reason, I placed Victor Amsel in command of that ship"

* * *

**8****th**** February, 12:00pm; Archangel-class Assault Ship: **_**Archangel**_**, Bridge**  
The members aboard the Bridge of the Assault Ship: _Archangel_, were ecstatic at the news of the nearby Advance Fleet from the 8th Fleet however when communications between the two Forces cut off then even the stupidest person on the ship knew what was wrong, N-Jammer Wavelengths began to increase however the enemy was yet to appear however when a Cuzco-class Heavy Destroyer fired its long-range Cannons then those aboard knew without a doubt that the Dark Celestials were involved.  
"Evade! Give me an immediate SitRep!" commanded Natarle as she sat forwards in her chair.  
"N-Jammer interference being projected behind us and one in front of us, confirmed Cuzco-class Heavy Destroyer ahead of us, also it seems that the Advance Force is being tailed by another Enemy Force" announced Sai as he typed away at his Computer.  
"Neumann, use the Debris in the Belt to traverse past that Heavy Destroyer, then set course for the Advance Fleet!" commanded Murrue and Neumann confirmed that he had received these instructions.

* * *

**1:00pm; Debris Belt: Near the Remains of Junius Seven, Battlefield**  
Ryu flew through the remains of Junius Seven his senses going haywire on an approaching danger, turning a corner he immediately reversed as a series of bullets flew past the Dragon.  
"_Well, well what have we here, if it isn't my lost little _brother" mocked a voice over the intercom as Ryu's eyes widened.  
"It can't be" growled Ryu "Victor Amsel"  
Turning he saw a blood red Prototype GuAIZ fast approaching him it's rifle raised as it opened fire.  
"_Been a long time little brother_" said Victor mockingly as the Dragon weaved through the GuAIZ's beams "_I hope you have been well, because I want to take all of it away from you!_"  
"You insane bastard!" shouted Ryu as he returned fire with his "Trikeros" Beam Rifle "I thought you died!"  
"_You only wish it so little brother!_" retorted Victor as he closed the distanced and tried to stab the Dragon with his Beam Claws only for it to slid to the right and slash back at him with his own Mesamune sword slightly nicking the head of the suit as it moved back and darted down one of the streets in between buildings "_today is the day I prove to all that _I_, not you, am the Ultimate Soldier!_"  
"You still rambling on about that bullshit?" asked Ryu "go ahead and have the title, I do not give a flying fuck about it, but you won't have it for long, because you die today!"  
Ryu activated the "Trikeros" Beam Saber and charged forward darting around the corner Victor disappeared around.  
"_So you say little brother!_" announced Victor as he fired his Rifle at the Dragon as it appeared around the corner slightly nicking his arm as he spun the suit around to dodge the deadly beams _"but I know of your mobile suit's flaw, if you are using power extensive weapons your armour fluctuates leaving you vulnerable to projectile attacks_"  
An anti-armour lancer dart interrupted him as Ryu charged forward firing off shots with his Beam Rifle, snarling Victor batted the single dart away as he dodged the beams and blocked them with his shield.  
"That may be true were I using the "Scylla" Energy Cannon" admitted Ryu smirking "but right now I'm using the second least power excessive shield I have, and I'm certain your Prototype has a few flaws of its own, after all why bother risking a _real_ soldier when they have an insane one no one would care to lose"  
"_SHUT UP YOU FUCKING BASTARD TRAITOR!_" screamed Victor as he charged forward firing recklessly and slashed at him with the GuAIZ's Beam Claws "_JUST DIE AND VANISH FROM THIS WORLD!_"  
"Not while I still have something worth fighting for, you insane reject!" countered Ryu as countered the Claws with his Beam Saber and brought his Mesamune up from below in an uppercut only for the GuAIZ to back off from the attack "even if you do kill me that is all you'll be, a reject"  
Ryu's announcement was met with a feral growling could be heard over the airwaves, coming from Victor's Prototype GuAIZ, obviously showing that Victor was not only unstable but quite agitated at the same time.  
"_You are the same dear little brother_" mocked Victor as his insanity crept into his voice "_b__ut you know something, remember that girl, what was her name ah yes, Amanda?_"  
Ryu narrowed his eyes as his hands tightened on the controls of the Dragon, Victor took the advantage of Ryu's pause to take up position behind some nearby Debris, waiting for Ryu to lose what little cool he had on the subject with obvious glee.  
"Shut up" growled Ryu and it wasn't a question or request but instead just a simple statement "shut up now or you will die, slowly and painfully"  
"_Yes, I remember her too_" stated Victor "_how weak and frail she was after the experimentation on her, trying, but failing to make her stronger as a means to save future Extended, I remember, visiting her after you left, when she was feeling better about herself, oh how she cried out for your aid_"  
"Don't tell me" whispered Ryu as his breath caught and his eyes widened in shock.  
"_Oh how pitiful her attempts to stave me off were_" continued Victor as he laughed "_that just made it all the sweeter as I desecrated her_"  
"Die" stated Ryu as rage filled his voice.  
That was Victor's only warning as the Dragon crashed through the debris, unfazed by the damage the Suite took from doing such an action as it furiously attacked the GuAIZ, having little regard to his own safety or the damage to his Mobile Suite. Victor was shocked by the brutality of the attacks, even if Ryu became predictable when angered the speed and power of the attacks were ridiculous as he was forced to continuously dodged his attacks, then again Victor had to admit that he nor Ryu had the reaction time of Krane which explained the heir of the Newtype Royalty's claiming Ryu's anger a weakness.  
"_Struck a nerve have I?_" Victor asked as he slowly began to see the pattern emerge in Ryu's attacks.

There was no response from Ryu as the attacks continued to come at Victor, a memory struck him of when they were younger, it was shortly after Ryu was forced to kill Amanda, one of the soldiers had been speaking to loud of his own _escapades_ with the doomed Extended girl, Ryu attacked instantly snapping the soldier's neck before anyone could do a thing, even Victor had trouble following the movements of the Genetically Perfect Soldier, Ryu never spoke a word before or after, Victor only saw one thing, burning rage in the eyes of his "Brother" that said he would willingly kill anyone who dared to get between him and his target.  
Victor shook off the memory and smirked as readied himself for the counterattack.  
Ryu's face was set into a grim line of no emotion, the only thing donating to his rage was the look in his eyes, a fire that fuelled his rage, pushing his suit forward he paid no heed to the warning sirens of approaching Debris, the power gauge falling low, or even the G-Forces pressing him back into the seat, only one thing was on his mind, destruction, destroy his enemies and all who got between them.  
The two continued to clash again and again as Victor moved through the Asteroid field dodging the floating rocks while Ryu simply crashed through them or cut them, as they collided again the alarms blaring in the cockpit of the Dragon reached a crescendo before the Phase Shift cut out.  
"_Finally out of power _brother?" Victor asked mockingly as he laughed sitting right in front Ryu mocking him as he tried to move the Dragon "_I have been waiting my entire life for this moment, I think I'll savour it as I let your friends watch as their greatest hope gets destroyed_"  
'_Crap!'_ swore Ryu mentally as panic overridden his anger allowing him to think clearly again '_I really fucked this one up. I'm sorry everyone._'  
"_NO!_" a feminine voice shouted out, snapping his eyes open Ryu saw the Aile equipped Strike streak in at high speeds slamming into the Prototype GuAIZ with its shield forcing it away from the Dragon as the Strike positioned itself between them "_I will_ not_ let you hurt Ryu_"  
"_You dare get between me and my prey!_" roared Victor as he glared at the Strike "_DIE!_"  
Hikari narrowed her eyes as the blood red prototype charged forward swinging its beam claws only for the Strike to raise its shield blocking the blow and pressed the barrel of the Beam Rifle to the GuAIZ's cockpit and fired only for it to dodge out of the way with a supernatural reaction speed as Hikari continued to fire.  
"_DAMMIT_" roared Victor as the low power alarm blared "_You survived today thanks to that wench _brother_ but next time I _will KILL YOU!"  
"Hikari" murmured Ryu as a video link opened and breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the GuAIZ retreat "thank you"  
"_Of course_" replied Hikari blushing lightly at the thanks "_I'd like to think you're a friend Ryu, after all we are fighting together..._"  
"Yeah, I guess you're right" agreed Ryu smiling softly at the girl who suddenly blushed a brighter red at his smile "I owe you Hikari"  
The link closed as Hikari's blush reached new heights as she helped the Dragon return to the _Archangel ._'_Why was she so embarrassed?_' Ryu wondered leaning back in his seat _'she couldn't _like_ me like _that_... could she'?_

* * *

**2:50pm; Archangel-class Assault Ship: **_**Archangel**_**, Bridge**  
"Ma'am!" shouted the radio officer as the _Archangel_ left the debris belt "I've just picked up an emergency message from advance ships of the 8th fleet! They are under attack from the Dark Celestials!"  
"WHAT!" shouted Murrue in shock as she turned in her seat to face the officer "how did they find them?"  
"Unknown ma'am" replied the officer "the message states that we are to continue to on towards the rendezvous point and that they'll try and hold the Dark Celestials off for as long as they can."  
"That's bloody fucking suicide!" shouted Mu in panic "what in the world are they thinking?"  
"Ma'am we should use this opportunity to get out of here and get a head start" advised Natarle "I don't like leaving them there, but..."  
"What do you think?" asked Murrue with a frown in thought before turning to the two members of Terminal and Hikari "continue on or fight?"  
"Both" Ryu stated surprising everyone "the Strike and the Devastator will station themselves on the _Archangel_ as long ranged artillery support along with the "Gottfried" cannons and "Valiants" while I go out draw some of the attention of their mobile suits and draw them away in a hit and run, that should lighten the load on the fleet a bit, maybe even catch us a big one as well."  
"Baiting them in" stated Mu realizing the plan "Captain, don't we also have a supply of mines aboard?"  
"What are you planning Lieutenant?" asked Murrue slightly wary "we do, but in this situation..."  
"We draw them in with something tasty, for example, me and the _Archangel_" explained Ryu "Than and Krane both want a piece of me, and blow them to kingdom come in a fiery explosion of death"  
Everyone stared at the grinning Mercenary who in a mixture of surprise and disbelief.  
"That might actually work" agreed Natarle "it's a simple but very effective plan, a proactive instead of defensive like we have been, but who will lay the mines, surely they will notice us moving in an odd pattern"

* * *

**3:00pm; Pre-Minerva-class Heavy Battleship: **_**Varda**_**, Pilot Rest Room**  
_"The _Archangel_ is fast approaching, distance: 5000" _announced Captain Renaldo over a transmission and Krane smirked as he leaned against the locker nearest the computer _"also we have an incoming custom Izumo-class Battleship, it is a Terminal Ship: the _Amaterasu_"_  
"So, we can assume that the 8th Fleet or some in the 8th Fleet are allied with Terminal, then again Admiral Lewis Halberton has always been a softy" sneered Krane as he leaned forwards "any details on its Mobile Suite complement?"  
_"We know that most of their Complement are GINNs however there is one we didn't expect, the Orb Union transferred an Early prototype to the Orb Union: the GAT-X206 Decree, therefore we expect that this Mobile Suite was loaned to Terminal"_ announced Renaldo calmly _"since all the Prototypes that were be given to Orb should have been handed over to the _Rewloola_'s complement_"  
"Indeed, maybe that enemy unit is someone to worry about, look up all possible MIA or Traitor ZAFT Pilots and designate who the potential pilot would be while also indicating if the enemy left or 'disappeared' with a team" announced Krane as he calmly lifted his helmet from the nearby Table "inform me of the results once I return"  
_"Yes Sir"_ saluted Renaldo before he cut the transmission.

* * *

**3:05pm; Near Debris Field: 8th Fleet's Advance Force, Battlefield**  
"This is Krane Vi Creuset, engaging!" announced Krane as the GAT-X50 Revelation launched from the open Catapult of the Varda before zooming towards the Advance Fleet's pathetic resistance.  
Krane counted exactly 9 Drake-class Escort Ships, Three Nelson-class Battleships and reinforcements in the form of Terminal's Custom Izumo-class Battleship: _Amaterasu_, a rather large force to escort the _Archangel_ back to the 8th Fleet but then again...the Earth Alliance were becoming desperate. Without even looking towards the rear of the Revelation's 360 Degrees Panoramic Cockpit, Krane pulled the Revelation into a steep drop as the GAT-X206 came blazing towards him from the side, Krane judged just how Newtype Sensitive the pilot was and almost beat his head against the Cockpit wall when he recognised the Newtype Signature almost immediately.  
"Krane!" shouted Than as he fired the Striker Gundam's Beam Magnum in Cannon Mode at the Decree Gundam which managed to avoid the Crimson Beam that soared past the dodging Gundam and into a Drake-class Escort Ship resulting not only in the Drake-class' destruction but on Than gaining a satisfied smirk.  
"Deal with this pest, I believe that I need to go educate Ryu, again" announced Krane as he watched the Archangel launch its Mobile Suites and the Moebius Zero "don't disappoint me"  
Krane shot off without waiting for Than's acknowledgment as he turned the Revelation into Mobile Armour Mode and launched in the direction of the Archangel but scowled when a Drake-class Escort Ship turned to engage him, with a cruel sneer the 'Dark King' activated the Revelation's chest mounted Creation Mega Launcher which speared a hole clean through the Drake-class with changed Creation Particles, the Drake-class broke apart mere moments later as it spat flames and debris in different directions before exploding.  
_"We're being defeated by Mobile Suites that we created and they stole, have you ever heard anything more ridiculous!"_ shouted Vice Foreign Minister George Allster over a one-way Sound Only Communication that Krane had hacked onto when he started the battle, the Atlantic Federation Officials' panicking caused Krane to smirk.  
_"Krane, what now? The _Archangel_ is right there"_ commented Than over a communication and Krane smirked coldly when he looked towards the Striker which had forced the Decree Gundam to retreat.  
"Exactly, why is it just sitting there? It has enough firepower to take out a Nazca-class if it were to get lucky, no. The real reason is that it knows that it is the main target of this operation, its partially taken the bait but...now it stands still when we are in a position to attack it, the reason is that they have set up a trap for us" answered Krane calmly and Than's head on the screen nodded "therefore, we test their patience and see how long they are willing to keep up this charade"  
_"All units..."_ started Than on a ZAFT wide Transmission _"stay out of the 300 Meters are ahead of the_ Archangel_, confirmed Trap, repeat: confirmed Trap!"_  
"Ryu and Mu are fools, their Tactical Experience comes from fighting Naturals and a few Coordinators, its time they learned a vital lesson about Newtype Tactical Warfare" announced Krane calmly before opening a link to all ZAFT forces "the _Varda_ and _Rewloola_ will move to cut the _Archangel_'s projected route if they cross the 300 Meter Projection, all Dark Celestial Mobile Suites are to return to their Motherships and recharge, the Le Creuset Team will execute the Earth Alliance Force immediately by any means necessary! We've baited them enough and they didn't dance to our strings exactly as we wanted, now we will punish them for this by making them watch as we destroy their allies, their supplies and liaisons with the 8th Fleet!"  
Krane sighed in annoyance as he made a bee-line for the _Archangel_ which was attempting to make its way towards the 8th Fleet's Advance Force while the _Varda_ and _Rewloola_ trailed after it from below, what CIC confirmed, was a Mine Field. Krane had no surprise at the method used but rather the effects of the outcome of this battle, it would take time to destroy the Mine Field before the _Vesalius_ and its escorts could continue onwards, but it shouldn't take that long if the _Varda_ remained behind after the battle to use its CIWS in a Barrage upon the Mines. Krane dodged through the Mine Field directly for the _Archangel_ while dodging the Mines that had been laid for him, Krane was not stupid enough to believe that Mines would cause him to hesitate and be shot down by the Earth Alliance, Ryu had fought too many rookies in ZAFT and so very few Newtypes which would be his downfall in this battle.  
Krane dodged as the Dragon launched towards him as he left the Mine Field however he did not fear Ryu's reaction to his success, Ryu was born and trained to Protect Krane instead of thinking, giving Krane almost every advantage possible, Ryu was a Warrior however Krane was a Warrior King and so there was a tactical disadvantage on Ryu's part when he decided to fight against Krane - a Knight could not slay a King after all. The Dragon fired its "Scylla" Cannon-mounted on his Shield at the Revelation which flipped out of the way as it exited the Mine Field, the Revelation countered by launching all eight of its "Calamity" compact Wireless Weapons which released beams from its two Beam Submachineguns, the Dragon dodged among the beams and slammed its "Mesamune" Heat Blade against the Large Beam Saber that projected from the Revelation's composite shield. Krane dodged the Revelation under fire from the Devastator and charged towards the _Archangel_ while dodging its "Valiant" attacks, taking aim at the bridge he was about to fire when a transmission came from the ship.  
_"Attention all ZAFT Personnel, let it be known that under the protection of this ship is PLANT Supreme Council Chairman Siegel Clyne's daughter: Lacus Clyne, we found her wandering through the debris field and in an act of kindness" _announced Natarle over a transmission from the _Archangel_ as the ZAFT stopped firing on the Alliance _"however if you were to continue attacking this ship then I would take that as an abandonment of the efforts to protect Lady Clyne, with that in mind we'll take her safety into her own hands" _  
"This is Krane Vi Creuset the Devil King, I have heard you're transmission yet you provide me with little evidence of Miss Clyne's safety or identity other than you're word, you have roughly 60 Seconds to transfer her genetic pattern through a transmission so we can confirm that she is who you claim she is and we can make a trade" announced Krane calmly as he crossed his legs "I have Vice Chairman George Allster's Escape Pod under my control as I speak, we will trade should confirmation come through within 60 Seconds after I finish this transmission but be warned, failure to comply will lead to me destroying you're ship"

* * *

**6:00pm; Pre-Minerva-class Heavy Battleship: **_**Varda**_**, Bridge Tower: Commander Room**  
True to his word, the _Archangel_'s crew had handed over Lacus Clyne and had quickly made their escape once George Allster was in their hands safely, Krane had let them go because he was tired of chasing the Legged Ship with no significant kills. This displeased Rau whom stated that Krane had lost his inspiration and so was not fighting because of this however Krane had shrugged his father off like an insignificant pest, his opinion was not important, nor did it matter at this point.  
_"I'm ready on my end"_ announced Than over a transmission and Krane nodded as he looked at one of the reflective Computer Screens that made up the Room's wall.  
"Very well, destroy the _Archangel_, force them into the path of the Gamow's task force and kill Ryu Hisanaga" announced Krane calmly "his existence is now a perversion of his reason to exist, he has become expendable to the PLAN"  
_"Very well, it's about time"_ grinned Than as he cut the transmission.

* * *

**9****th**** February, 7:00am; Archangel-class Assault Ship: **_**Archangel**_**, Bridge**  
"What is happening!" demanded Murrue as she pulled herself onto the Bridge as the _Archangel_ rocked from multiple nearby explosions.  
"It's the _Rewloola_, it is firing missiles as it advances on our position and we have confirmed four Mobile Suites with three enemy Mobile Suites of unknown design, one is ahead of the others and...It's the Striker!" shouted Natarle as a panicked look came into her eyes.  
"Isn't that the Prototype High Performance Mobile Suite that the Dark King claimed for himself?" asked Murrue and Mu whistled when he looked at the speeds that the MS was accelerating at.  
"We better get out there, otherwise we're as good as gone" muttered Ryu as he headed towards the Bridge doorway, however his stomach sunk at knowing Than was out there, Ryu had never faced Than but knew from his track record that his Mobile Suite had never been damaged in a battle which coupled with his number of kills made him a vicious pilot indeed.

* * *

**9:00am; Debris Field: Near Earth's Orbit, Battlefield**  
Ryu growled at the buzzing of the three YFX-B200 Black CGUE DEEP Arms that fired towards the _Archangel_ with their Beam Weapons, intent on shooting down the Assault Ship or causing massive damage to it nonetheless which seemed to be the extent of their mission objectives, what was the biggest problem however was the fact that the Stolen G-Weapons from Artemis were on-route to their location also. Than however used the Striker to cleanly fly circles around the _Archangel_ and used its assortment of weapons to damage its defences, easily enough he used the Striker's Beam Magnum to fire beams of Green energy that decimated the CIWS of the _Archangel_ with every pass, next he used the Magnum's Cannon Mode to fire a crimson beam of energy that ripped off the _Archangel_'s right mounted "Gottfried" with explosive results. The _Archangel_ could only go forwards as they were boxed in between the _Gamow_ and _Rewloola_ which approached from two separate directions, Cannons firing in an attempt to sink the annoyance that had plagued them for almost a month and they had no intention of letting it continue to do so, it was time to sink the annoyance once and for all.  
"Is that all you have!" snarled Than as he shot at the Dragon with calm aim "Ryu Hisanaga, you're life ends here, alongside you're pathetic attempt to reach the 8th Fleet!"  
"Not if I can help it, Than!" growled Ryu as he clashed with the Dark Celestial Ace however Than easily dodged the Striker past the Dragon before firing at the _Archangel_, causing damage along its Bridge Tower armour, on the front side of the tower it was the Blitz that was attacking.  
"You all die now!" snarled Than calmly as he shot at the Devastator taking off one of its arms.  
Ryu suddenly felt something in his mind snap and suddenly everything was clear to him as he charged at Than, the Newtype Ace had backed off when he sensed the SEED Factor activate in his target but now he was at a major disadvantage and had to correct it immediately, he fired at the _Archangel_'s engines but snarled when he noticed the minimum amount of damage that had been done to the ship. Than activated his SEED Factor as his eyes bled red and his pupils became star shaped, Than clashed at the Dragon causing Ryu to back off in surprise at the aggression being directed at it despite the assumed enemy's surprise, Ryu charged Than again as the Newtype Noble prepared for the attack. Than ducked under the crazed Ultimate Soldier before directing his Mobile Suite to cut through the Dragon, the Mobile Suite had already moved away as the Ultimate Soldier sensed the incoming attack causing Than to growl as he looked at the chronometer on a screen off to the side, the 8th Fleet was quickly coming in range and Than decided that with the Duel damaged and the Blitz supporting it that they had little choice – they had to retreat.  
"Blast it, we're falling back everyone!" snarled Than as he jetted off towards the _Rewloola_ with members of his team close behind, swearing vengeance on the _Archangel_ and Ryu Hisanaga.

* * *

**Author's Note - I hope you enjoyed this Chapter, know that over the next few Chapters the story will move off the Archangel since it is taking a little too much time off our main character: Kira, it will be mentioned from time to time however the next time it will be seen largely will be at the Battle of Orb and After. Sorry also for the late update however lack of Reviews do lead to this, if you want the next Chapter to get out sooner, you'll review!**

**Mobile Suites:**

**ZGMF-X600 Proto-GuAIZ Victor Amsel Custom**

**Unit type:** Mass production general purpose mobile suit

**Manufacturer(s):** MMI (Maius Military Industries); Clark, Asimov, & Heinlein Design Bureaus

**Operator:** ZAFT (Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty)

**Accommodation:** pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso

**Dimensions:** head height 20.24 meters

**Weight:** max gross weight 80.2 metric tons

**Armour:** unknown

**Powerplant:** Ultracompact energy battery, power output rating unknown

**Equipment and design features:** sensors, range unknown

**Armaments:**

2x MMI-GAU2 "Picus" 76mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted on head

1x MA-MV03 composite shield, features dual beam claw on tip, mounted on left arm

2x EEQ7R extensional arrestor, mounted on back, can be fired out on a line

**Optional Armaments:**

MA-M21G beam rifle, power rating unknown

**Colour:** Blood Red

**GAT-X104 Striker Gundam**

**Developed From:** N/A

**Unit Type:** Prototype Multi-Purpose Assault Mobile Suite

**Launched:** January 25, 71 C.E.

**Operators: **

Earth Alliance - Atlantic Federation

ZAFT - Dark Celestials

**Power Plant:** Ultracompact Energy Battery; 5x backup Ultracompact Energy Battery, located in Backpack

**Armaments: **

1x Beam Magnum, stored on lower back when not in use, replaceable Clip.

2x "Igelstellung" 75mm multi-barrel CIWS, located in Head.

2x Beam Sabres, located on Waist.

2x 220mm 6-barrel missile pod, mounted on shoulders

1x MS Shield with Beam Sword, 2x External Arrestors and 4x Lancer darts.

**Special Equipment: **

Unknown number of Energy Condensers

Prototype 360-degree panoramic cockpit

2x Duel Sonic Boosters, equipped with five Ultracompact Energy Battery, located within Backpack

**Armour:** Trans Phase Armour

**Known Pilots:** Than Veia

**Info:** The Prototype for the Strike and the Aviator, also the acting Prototype for the First Three Striker Packs, it is stolen at Heliopolis and used by Than Veia – interestingly it also tests experimental high speed boosters however they take up a usual amount of energy.

**GAT-X104 Striker Gundam**

**Developed From:** N/A

**Unit Type:** Prototype Multi-Purpose Assault Mobile Suite

**Launched:** January 25, 71 C.E.

**Operators: **

Unknown Newtypes (Originally and 1st Refit)

Dark Celestials (2nd Refit)

**Power Plant:** Relic Creation Engine

**Armaments: **

2x "Igelstellung"75mm multi-barrel CIWS

1x Creation Mega Launcher

4x Beam Sabres

2x "Evolution" High-Energy Beam Cannon

8x "Calamity" compact Wireless Weapons (2x Beam Submachinegun, Made from strong Gundanium Armour)

**Optional Weapons:**

1x High-energy Beam Rifle

1x Composite Shield System (1x Large Beam Sword, 2x "Igelstellung" 75mm multi-barrel CIWS)

**Special Equipment: **

Radiation Nozzle

The "ANCIENT SYSTEM"

Atmospheric Flight

Prototype 360-degree panoramic cockpit

Mobile Armour Transformation System

**Armour:** Phase Shift Armour

**Known Pilots:**

Andras Casaba (1st Refit - 2000 Years Ago)

Krane Vi Creuset

**Info:** A relic Newtype Weapon of War that has been rebuilt into a Mobile Suite as part of the G-Project in hope of leaning about its interesting energy source and other Newtype born systems, it was retrieved from Heliopolis by Andras Casaba and upgraded, it is now piloted by Krane Vi Creuset and it matches his reaction time perfectly.


End file.
